Cinnamon Girl
by Tarzje
Summary: Catherine and Sara are trying to solve a murder, the suspect complicates not only the case, but also their relationship. CathSara
1. Chapter 1

Cinnamon Girl

Sara sighed; the last time she had a case in a dorm it involved an exploding toilet. The last time she was accompanied by Greg, and this time it was Catherine. Not that it wasn't good to work with Catherine, but it was definitely not good for her concentration. Lately Sara found it was becoming harder to deny her crush on Catherine for some reason.

Once again she found herself staring at Catherine's cute ass while she was following her. _Bad Sara_, she mentally slapped herself. She had to focus now. Somewhere in there was a young woman depending on her to find her killer.

Catherine sighed; it was always such a shame to find young women in the prime of their lives with so many things they still had to do and experience but would never get the chance. She glanced over her shoulder to look at Sara who had been following her around the dorms like a puppy dog. She wondered what was going on with the brunette. Normally she would barge into a crime scene and start processing right away; now it seemed like she was waiting for orders.

"You take the photographs, and I'll check the room, " Catherine said, slightly expecting Sara to argue with her.

"Ok," Sara replied as she got her camera out.

It amazed the blonde that Sara didn't argue but started working right away. Something had been up for a while. They didn't argue half as much as they used to. Catherine smiled to herself; maybe someday they could even become friends.

"What have we got, David?" Catherine asked the coroner.

"She's been dead less than 12 hours. So far I've counted 4 stab wounds, all on her back," David answered.

Catherine nodded and walked over to Brass to talk to him, and Sara started taking photographs of the body.

"I always like working with my two favorite women," Brass said with a smile "too bad we always have to meet under these circumstances though."

"Hey Jim, what can you tell me?" Catherine greeted the Detective.

"Victims name is Dana Anderson, 23. It was called in by her classmate Erin Davies, she is over there. This is not Dana's room, her room is down the hall. This room belongs to Dean Messing, we are still trying to locate him."

"Thanks Jim," Catherine said before turning around to start processing the room.

Dana's body was removed and both Sara and Catherine started processing the room. Sara was collecting hairs from the sink while Catherine was working around where the body was found.

"Cath, look at this," Sara said, motioning for Catherine to come and look at something she found.

Catherine realized Sara was using her nickname and it sounded incredibly sexy coming from Sara's mouth. _'OK, no time for this now, focus Cath_' she told herself before walking over to Sara.

"A note," the blonde CSI said when Sara showed her what she found.

"What the fuck are you thinking, messing around with cinnamon girl like that? You are mine, and you know that," Sara slowly read.

"Doesn't sound like a love letter to me," Catherine said with a smirk. "What do you think 'cinnamon girl' means?" She asked her colleague.

"I have no idea. Maybe a nickname for someone," Sara shrugged.

Catherine went back to where she was working earlier; she was dusting prints from a chair near where the body was found.

"Sara, can you come here for a second?" Catherine asked the brunette.

Sara turned around and walked over to where Catherine was, looking at the older woman with her eyebrow raised. Was the great Catherine Willows going to ask her, Sara Sidle, for help?

"Do you smell that?" The blonde CSI said looking up at her colleague.

Sara sniffed and tried to identify the sweet smell filling her nostrils.

"Cinnamon," she said, flashing a smile at Catherine. Maybe that would be an explanation for cinnamon girl.

Suddenly both women were startled by a noise that seemed to come from the closet. Catherine's eyes grew bigger, and Sara reached for her gun.

"This room was cleared, right?" Sara whispered at Catherine.

Catherine nodded and put her finger on her lips, indicating to Sara she should be quiet. Catherine got up, but Sara beat her to the door of the closet and opened it with force. She pointed her gun at the person who was hiding in there.

"Don't shoot!" the girl in the closet shouted, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Get out of there and ID yourself," Sara shouted.

The girl got up from her hiding position; she had curled herself up in a ball on the floor of the closet.

"SLOWLY," Sara shouted, still pointing the gun at the young woman.

Catherine was shocked; the cops had cleared the room but forgot to look in the closet?

"Sara, it's ok," Catherine said. She saw the girl was scared, her eyes gave it away big time and she was shaking.

Sara shot a death glare at Catherine and then looked back at the girl.

"Sara put the gun down," Catherine said, putting her hand on Sara's arm.

It felt as if Catherine's hand was burning through her clothes on her skin, a shiver went through her spine, but still she was mad at the blonde. Catherine was undermining her, again!

Catherine put some more force on Sara's arm, making her put the gun down.

"Let me handle this Sara," she whispered in Sara's ear, not knowing this caused the brunette to shiver.

"Who are you?" Catherine asked the girl now standing in front of them.

"I'm J..Jane, Jane Smith," the girl said, casting her eyes at the floor.

Catherine found there was a certain familiarity about this girl: the brown hair, a little bit curly, brown eyes and a lanky body. Catherine wondered if Sara had looked like that when she was at Harvard, suddenly she saw a younger Sara in front of her. Catherine shook her head to make the image go away, _where did that come from?_ She asked herself.

"Jane, will you come with us so we can talk?" Catherine asked with her soothing mom voice.

Sara glared at Catherine who had ruined her authority by undermining her in front of a suspect. She was just thinking how remarkably well they were doing without all the fighting, but of course she was too soon to think they might even become friends. Every time she would think of that Catherine would put her foot in.

The girl just shrugged and nodded; she seemed eerily calm for someone in a situation like this. There was something odd about this girl and Catherine was determined to find that out. When Catherine stepped closer to the girl, she realized that Jane was the source of the cinnamon smell.

Sara gathered all the evidence they had collected and followed Catherine and Jane out of the room. While walking behind the two, she had the time to observe the suspect they had found. The young woman was a lot like how she was when she was younger. Subconsciously, Sara's gaze turned to the back of Catherine who seemed to carry herself with so much more grace and confidence; it was just plain sexy.

A couple of guys where standing in the hallway, cheering at them. Sara was sure they were jocks or some sort, seeing their jackets and the stupid way of expressing themselves.

"Oooooh our resident geek is being arrested!" One of the guys cheered.

Sara could see Jane cringe and grow two sizes smaller. _'Yup, very much like me_,' Sara confirmed to herself.

Catherine had told the cops to stay at the scene and prevent anyone from going in the room. She knew just how students where. They had agreed, although the one in charge was a bit reluctant about letting Jane ride with them, but when Catherine assured him she wasn't a suspect, which was a lie, he let her get away with it.

Catherine closed the door of the backseat and got behind the wheel herself. She looked at Sara who had put the kits in the back of the car and now sat next to her.

"You drop off the evidence while I talk to cinnamon girl here," she said.

Sara just nodded and Catherine drove off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **_See part one_

**A/N: **_Thanks for the nice reviews! Here goes!_

Sara was walking towards the interrogation room after dropping off the evidence they had collected. Sara wanted to barge into the interrogation and get everything out of the girl who was sitting there, but since she was quite fond of her life she voted against it since, knew Catherine was interrogating the girl already. Catherine would bite her head off if she butted in now, so instead she opted for looking in through the two way mirror.

When she looked into the room, her anger towards the girl being interrogated subsided within a second. The girl was looking into the two way mirror and seemed to look straight into Sara's eyes. She couldn't be a day over 25, but her eyes made her look much older. Sara knew those eyes; she had seen them many times before. She saw something familiar in those eyes, something that drew her to the girl. To her surprise, Catherine wasn't in the room.

"Sara Sidle, are you checking out cinnamon girl?" A voice asked.

It was Catherine, Sara just knew it. She knew because Catherine was so close; she could feel her breath on her skin, which made her warm inside.

"I'm not," Sara said, turning around to see a playful smile on Catherine's face. Sara decided to play along. "Are you jealous, Cath?" She asked, letting her name linger on her tongue as long as possible. She loved calling her Cath. it was smooth and sexy.

Catherine chuckled. The always cool and together Sara Sidle was flirting with her! It was a miracle.

"If I didn't know any better Sara, I'd think you were flirting with me," Catherine smirked.

She saw Sara turn red at her remark, so she thought maybe Sara really was flirting with her. Now that would be... well what would it be actually? Nice? Inappropriate? Catherine realized it even made her lose her cool. She felt herself blush and almost wanting to run out of the room. She would have to talk about that with Sara later.

"Well I'm going in again, Brass wanted to take a break because cinnamon girl here was getting on his nerves," Catherine said, putting her hand on Sara's shoulder.

'_OK, where did that come from?_' Catherine asked herself when she felt Sara's burning skin underneath her hand, and she liked it.

"Ok, good luck," Sara said, flashing Catherine a shy smile.

Sara wondered what had just happened between her and the love of her life, did they just actually flirt? Did Catherine blush because of her remark? Did Catherine feel what she felt when she put her hand on her shoulder?

Sara shook her head to clear her thoughts when she saw Catherine and Brass enter the interrogation room again. She saw Jane tensed up immediately when she saw the two enter. Sara wondered why.

Catherine was losing her patience with the girl she was interrogating. This girl was lying to her about everything she asked about the girl's personal life. The questions about the victim seemed to be answered truthfully. This girl, according to herself named Jane Smith, was holding back a lot. And who was named Jane Smith these days? It made Catherine think of a movie she saw with Lindsay not too long ago, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The woman in that movie was named Jane Smith too, and she was a secret agent.

She heard Jim Brass asking the girl questions, but the method Jim was using only seemed to make the girl crawl back even more. Her shoulders squared and she looked even more tense then she already was. She looked like she was about to burst.

"Jim, could you leave me alone with her please?" Catherine said.

Brass looked at her and raised his eyebrow. He saw Catherine's determined look and knew better than to argue with the blonde CSI. He nodded and left the room.

"Ok Jane, he is gone now. Will you talk to me?" Catherine asked, sitting down across the table from 'Jane'.

The girl just looked up and stared at Catherine. The girl's eyes made her look so much older than she really was. There was a look of pain in there as if she had been through much more than she should have been at that age.

"Now, we can start with being honest with each other. My name is Catherine Willows, now you tell me yours," Catherine said calmly. She was determined to break through this girl's walls.

"Jane..."

"Don't lie to me. Jane Smith is nothing more than a name from a movie. If you really had done your research well you would've told me your name was Jane Doe," Catherine said and smiled at the reaction she got.

The girl looked up at her; the desperation was visible in her eyes. Her face seemed pretty emotionless, but her eyes gave everything away. This girl, the so called Jane Smith, was about to fall apart.

"Please, I can't tell you," the girl said.

"And why is that?" Catherine asked, raising her eyebrow at the girl.

"It will cause a lot of trouble," the girl replied calmly.

Catherine looked at the girl and could see she was telling the truth. But what would the problem be? Was she famous or something? Rich daddy? An escaped felon maybe?

"Listen, I'm really losing my patience here. I can get that Detective back in here and make this talk a lot less pleasant. You are wasting my time," Catherine said firmly after the nice approach didn't seem to work out.

"Look, I want to talk. I will tell you everything I know, but I have nothing to do with this, so any personal information is not relevant! I've been working with you all the way. I can also lawyer up, now THAT would waste your time," the girl suddenly spat at Catherine.

Catherine was stunned; she hadn't expected the girl to lash out at her. She grinned at herself. She had found a way to push the girl's buttons. Now she was getting somewhere.

"My name is Emily," the girl suddenly said before Catherine could react on her previous statement.

"Now we are getting somewhere Emily," Catherine said, stressing the girl's name. "Will you tell me what happened, and why you were at my crime scene?"

"I didn't know crime scenes belonged to people," Emily noted with a hint of sarcasm.

"Don't start," Catherine said. She could see Emily was trying her out. "I have to give it to you; you definitely have guts sitting in an interrogation room, trying out the cops who are interrogating you. Do you realize this is a murder case, and that you are one of my suspects?"

"I'm sorry," Emily sighed. "I'm just tired of all this. I have been sitting here for over an hour now, and all you guys want to know is about me. I'm not the victim here, nor am I the killer, so I don't see how you peering into my history will help catching the bastard that did this to Dana," she continued calmly.

In a weird way, Catherine was impressed with this girl even though she was a serious pain in the ass when it came to smart answers. This girl had to be damn brilliant.

"Ok Emily, but that still didn't answer my questions. What were you doing at my crime scene?" Catherine asked again.

"I was going to pick Dana up. There was a note on her door, saying she was over at the room you found her in."

"And who does that room belong to?" Catherine asked. This was finally going somewhere.

"I don't know, probably some guy," Emily looked up at Catherine. "Dana wasn't the most monogamous person."

Finally some of the pieces started to move into the right place. Catherine could see the pain in Emily's eyes; why was Emily so upset about Dana being with some guy? Where they dating?

"Continue..." Catherine encouraged her.

"It took me a while to find the room; I'm not really at home at the dorms. When I found it, the door was open, I kind of assumed Dana left it open for me.."

"Why were you looking for Dana?"

Emily looked up at Catherine; she didn't want to answer that question. She hated the blonde woman for what she was doing, yet she felt safe in a weird kind of way. It was a feeling she never had before.

"We..erm..we were going to watch a movie together."

Catherine noticed the little crack in Emily's composure. So she was human after all. It still amazed Catherine this girl was so composed, so together, after what she had seen.

"What movie?" Catherine wasn't satisfied with the answer. She had a feeling Emily wasn't telling her things.

"Does that really matter? It's not like she was killed over a bad taste in movies"

"I'm just trying to help you refresh your memory, so we can find out what happened," Catherine tried.

"My memory is fine, thank you," Emily bit back. "When I entered the room, I found her," Emily paused, she tried to compose herself, but it wasn't working anymore. A single silent tear rolled down her cheek. "...I found her like that." Emily sighed deeply after finishing the sentence.

A familiar smell filled Catherine's nostrils; the proverbial light bulb seemed to pop up over her head.

"What's that you are eating?" Catherine hadn't noticed Emily had something in her mouth until now. The smell was the same as what she had smelled at the room they found Dana in.

"Cinnamon gum," Emily replied. She blushed, her face turning a light shade of pink "I'm addicted to those."

"I smelled it at the crime scene," Catherine said.

"Could be, I was there. I was there when you and your colleague barged in with your kits," Emily sighed again. She was embarrassed by the whole situation.

"So, you are cinnamon girl. Why did you hide in the closet?" Catherine asked.

"Nothing says 'I'm guilty' like standing in the middle of a room with a body lying at your feet," Emily said harshly. "And I prefer not to be called cinnamon girl."

Catherine was getting annoyed, every time she thought she broke through Emily's walls she bumped into another one. It was a lot like with Sara. Why did her mind bring Sara up now?

"Why don't you want to be called cinnamon girl?" Catherine said, her voice sounded harsher than she meant it to be. She saw she made a mistake with that right away, it seemed Emily had built an instant wall after hearing Catherine's voice.

"Can I go now?" Emily asked "I told you everything I know. I'm tired, I'd like to go."

Sara had been overlooking the whole interrogation. The girl, Emily, reminded her so much of herself when she was younger. She did find that Catherine was being too soft on the girl who obviously knew more than she was telling. When Emily asked if she could go, Sara got up and decided to risk it.

She opened the door to the interrogation room. Catherine looked up at her, she seemed a bit confused.

"Hi Emily, I'm Sara Sidle, and I would like to ask you some questions." Sara said, sitting down next to Catherine.

Catherine looked over at Sara, trying to say 'what are you doing here' with just her eyes. Sara answer the look with a 'just let me' look which made Catherine wonder since when they could have conversations without speaking to each other.

Both CSI's didn't see Emily's shocked reaction. Sara turned her attention to Emily, too late to see her reaction. By the time Sara was facing her, she had her composure back. She was showing off the same coolness as before.

"Emily, you said earlier that you didn't know your way around the dorm. Don't you live there too?" Sara asked.

"I knew someone was behind that mirror. There always is." Emily said, totally ignoring Sara's question. Instead she just stared at Sara. She was busted, she just knew it.

When Sara looked into Emily's eyes, she saw the girl was scared. Something was terrifying the girl to no end.

"I just didn't think it would be you," Emily continued, not taking her gaze away from Sara.

Catherine instinctively raised her eyebrow and looked at Sara. Did they know each other? Then her attention went to Emily, who had a tear rolling over her face again.

Sara had no idea what this girl was talking about. This girl knew her? From where? She felt herself get angry; she always got angry when she didn't understand something.

"Excuse me?" Sara said while getting up from her chair.

Catherine saw she had to do something, Sara was losing her patience and she didn't want to think about what could happen.

"Emily, please tell us what you mean with that," Catherine said.

Emily looked at Catherine and then shifted her gaze to the floor, staring at it as if something mighty interesting was lying there.

Sara slammed her hands on the table, startling both Catherine and Emily.

"I've been standing behind that glass, I've heard the whole conversation and you have said NOTHING yet. You better start talking or else.."

"Sidle," Emily mumbled to interrupt Sara's rant.

"What? What did you say Emily?" Catherine tried. She hadn't heard what Emily said, or well she wasn't sure if she had heard it right.

Emily faced both Sara and Catherine. Her eyes had changed; they were dark and seemed emotionless.

"My last name. Sidle. Are you two happy now?" Emily said while crossing her arms in front of her chest.


	3. Chapter 3

"What?" Sara asked.

Things seemed to be blurry at the moment. She didn't want to understand it, but deep down she knew. She had seen those eyes, she had seen the brown hair, and she had seen the long legs.

"You are the smart scientist here. You tell me," Emily bit at Sara.

Catherine could have sworn she heard her jaw hit the table. Did she just get that right? One look at Emily and back at Sara confirmed it. Now that complicated the whole case.

"You are... That's impossible," Sara stumbled.

Emily looked at Catherine, trying to get her attention.

"Miss Willows, I have told you all I know, can I go now," Emily said calmly.

Catherine looked at the young woman who seemed to have put up all her walls. It was amazing how much she was like Sara, and it was even more amazing she hadn't made that connection before.

"Catherine," Sara said "could you please leave us alone?"

"That won't be necessary," Emily said, earning a glare from Sara.

"You barge in here, tell me we are related, and then walk out again?" Sara was furious. She was confused but most of all furious.

Catherine didn't know what to do; she was stunned by the revelation that had been made, even though it wasn't laid out in those specific words.

"I never wanted to say this in the first place because I know you are not waiting for a little sister to barge into your life. I wasn't planning on this, but I knew I had a sister in Vegas, and when I had the chance to study here I didn't doubt for a second," Emily paused to wipe away a tear. "I was so happy to find out I had family that was normal, but when I came here it was all a bad idea. And look where I ended up."

Sara looked at Emily in silence; she knew just what Emily meant. But she wasn't ready, not for this.

"It's impossible, my mother..," Sara started.

"Is in jail, that's where I was born. Great way to start your life isn't it?" Emily cut her off.

"Well, not everything in life is all roses," Sara said before walking out of the interrogation room.

"Cinnamon girl is my sister. I have a sister," she mumbled to herself while she was walking towards the locker room.

Catherine, who had been following the conversation in awe, opened her mouth to talk, but she didn't get the chance.

"I'm sorry," Emily said, looking at the blonde CSI. "I didn't mean to annoy you or to make you lose your patience. I really didn't want Sara to get in trouble, I'm sure she will be pulled off the case now, and she doesn't deserve that," Emily sighed.

"You don't deserve this either Emily," Catherine said. "Don't worry about Sara, she will be fine."

"I didn't kill Dana. I'm majoring in criminal justice, and I want to work in law enforcement. Killing her would be the stupidest move in my life," Emily paused and looked up at Catherine. "Apart from what I just did," Emily added.

Catherine felt like pulling Emily into a hug, but she resisted. Instead she started asking questions.

"Listen Miss Willows, I am sorry I messed up your case. I am sorry that I got myself into this. I am sorry for upsetting your colleague and most of all I am sorry but I don't think its appropriate to talk about this now. it has nothing to do with the case whatsoever," Emily said and paused shortly to look straight into Catherine's eyes. "Yes, I knew Dana. Yes, I was foolish enough to make out with her once. Yes, we got caught. Yes, I got beaten up over that. And yes, the whole school ignores me because I'm a geek. Happy now?" Emily got up and made way to the door of the room.

Catherine sighed; there was no reason to keep Emily here any longer, and maybe she should go look for Sara to see if she was ok.

"Thank you Emily," Catherine said while rubbing her temples.

This was the most tiring interrogation she ever had. This girl went from witness to suspect to, to what exactly? She was Sara's sister!

Catherine got up and led Emily to the reception from where she could call a cab. After that, she went through the whole Lab in search for Sara. She found Sara in one of the labs that are hardly ever used anymore; it was more of a storage room now.

"Are you ok, Sara?" Catherine asked, walking towards the brunette.

Sara looked up at Catherine who was coming dangerously close to her now.

"I'm fine," she said as Catherine sat down next to her on the floor.

"And now tell me the truth," Catherine said as she made Sara look at her.

"I don't know. I guess I knew right away, when I saw her, when I looked into her eyes." Sara was working hard to keep back her tears, but in spite of that a single tear still made its way down her cheek.

Catherine moved closer to Sara. She held Sara's face in her hand while she used the thumb of the other to gently wipe away the tear on Sara's face. Sara's breath hitched, and Catherine noticed right away. The blonde woman smiled and gently pressed her lips on Sara's, meeting the younger woman in a short kiss.

Before Catherine could pull back when she realized she was doing something inappropriate, Sara wrapped her arm around Catherine's neck and pulled the woman closer before crashing her lips into Catherine's.

At first Catherine was a bit reluctant, but when Sara made very clear she didn't care they were at work, she traced Sara's bottom lip with her tongue, demanding access to the younger woman's mouth which she got right away.

Sara moaned softly when Catherine's tongue entered her mouth. All these years she had waited for this to happen. All these years she dreamed of this, and now it was happening. It was much better than in her dreams.

Catherine who had been controlling the kiss pulled back to catch her breath. Sara looked so adorable like this; her face flushed, and her lips still swollen from the kiss they had just shared. Catherine didn't know why she pressed her lips on Sara's in the first place, but it didn't matter. The outcome was great. Damn, Sara was a good kisser!

"Erm," Sara started.

Catherine put her finger on Sara's lips. "We'll talk about this later, right now we have to solve this case, and you should talk to your sister." She said before giving Sara a quick kiss and getting up. She reached out her hand and pulled Sara up.

"If you hurry, she might still be at the reception," Catherine said.

"I... I don't want..." Sara started, still intoxicated from the kiss they had just shared.

"Yes you do," Catherine said, almost pushing Sara out of the door. "Go Sara."


	4. Chapter 4

The receptionist had called her a cab, and now Emily was waiting for it to arrive. It had been a weird day. Emily had always dreamed of meeting her sister. She had idolized the woman as some hero who was absolutely perfect. The real life version of her sister wasn't much off, apart from that she was just as bad in dealing with feelings as she was herself. But her sister now had a face and a name. Sara Sidle; it sounded well. Sara Sidle from the Las Vegas Crime Lab. Yep, really a hero; just like Emily had imagined.

Their first meeting had been odd though. It's not every day your own sister holds a gun to your face. But oh well, all beginnings are hard right? She must have left a very wrong first impression on Sara though. First with giving her partner, that Catherine woman, the evasive answers to a point that Sara had to burst in to try to get the answers for her partner. And then the great, idiotic Emily Sidle had to crack. Yep NOT a good first impression.

Emily was deep in thought when the receptionist told her a cab was waiting for her outside. It took a while to register in her brain, but when it did she got up, feeling even more stupid than before. As she opened the door to leave the Crime Lab, for good, someone called her back.

"Emily, wait!"

Emily turned around to see who could possibly want her to stay. It was Sara.

"Want to grab a coffee?" Sara asked the younger woman.

"No thanks," Emily replied. It almost sounded harsh.

"It wasn't a question." Sara said, taking Emily's arm and guiding her outside.

"Oh," was all Emily managed to get out.

Actually it wasn't a good time for Sara. But then again, when is it a good time to hear about having a sister you never knew about? And when is it a good time to kiss the co-worker you have had a crush on for ages? This was definitely the weirdest day she had had in a long time.

"Get in," Sara ordered.

As Emily closed the door, Sara drove off. She didn't know where they were going, and she didn't care. She had to talk to Emily; ask her how, why, who and what. And she wanted Emily to tell the truth about the death of her friend, even though she was most likely to be pulled off the case.

"Where are we going?" Emily asked. She looked over at Sara who seemed to be focused on the road.

"We are going for a drive. I drive, you talk. And I won't stop driving until you've told me everything I need to know," Sara said. She looked over at the girl next to her who her mind still refused to call sister.

"Well I hope you have a full tank of gas then because I'm not saying anything," Emily bit back. Two can play that game.

"Look Emily, I don't have time to play games. Unlike you, I never knew I had a sister. I didn't have time to prepare for this." Sara said, looking at Emily.

Sara understood Emily's position, and now she wanted Emily to understand hers. That would be a good first step into. But into what really?

"Of course, I planned a murder to meet my long lost sister!" Emily almost shouted. "It isn't my fault I was born, it isn't my fault mom doesn't care, it isn't my fault Dana is dead! Do you think I like being here?" Emily took a deep breath before continuing but was cut off by Sara.

"I know how it feels. I know you feel lonely. How do you think I feel Emily? Of all people you should understand," Sara told her.

It was as if Emily could feel Sara's pain, so it was the same for her. Emily looked up at Sara and caught her eye; yep the same pain.

"I'm sorry," Emily said. Suddenly she felt really guilty. She had been really harsh to Sara without thinking about how she would feel.

"It's ok. We are both shocked. That's why we need to talk."

"I like driving." Emily suddenly said, smiling.

"Me too, it clears my mind," Sara replied with the same smile. So it was going to be like this; she could live with that. Baby steps.

"I don't like talking about myself. I get a lump in my throat and everything stops working. Then I always end up being really annoying and frustrating the people around me. That's what happened in the interrogation room, and I'm sorry for frustrating you."

"I don't like talking about myself either," Sara replied simply. She didn't need to say much more because Emily would understand.

"Well, then let's not talk about us," Emily said with a sigh. "At least not right now."

Sara smiled and drove onto the highway.

"Let's see how far this car will take us," she said as smiled at Emily.

Emily just smiled back. Her sister was even cooler than she had imagined. She felt like a small child again, looking up to the big sister or big brother no matter what. They didn't talk, at least not today, and that made Emily feel much more comfortable.

It was quiet in the car for a while. Both women spent their time thinking and trying to process what had happened today. After a while, Sara heard a steady breathing coming from the passenger's seat. Emily had fallen asleep. Sara then decided to drive back to the lab; she had to find out Emily's address and drop her off.

When Sara pulled over at the lab, shift was almost over. She had to talk to Grissom about Emily, and she had to find Catherine. Sara looked over at Emily who seemed to be fast asleep.

"Hey Emily, wake up," she softly said, gently shaking Emily's shoulder.

Slowly the younger woman woke up.

"I have to arrange a few things here, and then I will take you home okay?" Sara said, smiling at Emily.

"I don't want to go home." Emily softly mumbled.

Sara helped Emily out of the car and seated her near the reception desk.

"Stay here until I come back to pick you up," She said before walking off to find Catherine.

Emily looked up at her older sister, seeing her walk away with a confident pace. If Sara had looked back, she would have seen the terror in Emily's eyes.

Catherine was about to clock out when she saw Sara appear in the hallway. She smiled at the brunette and motioned her to come along with her.

Catherine led Sara to the locker room. When they entered she closed the door behind Sara and planted a kiss on the brunette's lips.

"How did it go?" she said while wrapping her arms around Sara.

Sara was taken by surprise but recovered quickly, and she smiled at Catherine.

"Emily is waiting for me at the reception desk. I will take her home after I talked to Grissom," Sara decided to get Catherine back and gently kissed her. She let her tongue run over Catherine's bottom lip before pulling back and continuing her report.

"Emily and I are quite alike. We didn't talk much, we just drove around. Emily fell asleep so I came back."

Catherine never lost her composure, ever. But Sara Sidle, the mysterious brunette from the Las Vegas Crime Lab, just proved otherwise. Catherine was totally blown away by the sudden boldness of the younger woman; she had just kissed her, teased her to no end and then just continued talking like nothing happened. Catherine wasn't planning on letting Sara notice that. She might get too smug.

"Do you want me to come with you to talk to Grissom?" Catherine said, pulling Sara closer to her.

"No, it's ok. I'll be fine. But you could check on Emily for me. She seemed panicked when I woke her up and told her I'd take her home," Sara answered.

"Maybe she doesn't want to go home Sara, I mean considering what happened today," Catherine replied, putting a strand of hair behind Sara's ear.

Sara's eyes grew wide when she understood what Catherine meant. Taking Emily home with her? No way. She wasn't ready for that at all.

"Oh no, I can't, that's just not" Sara started.

"She is your family Sara. She needs you," Catherine cut the younger woman off.

Catherine had always learned that your family is very important; she never thought much of it until Lindsey was born. Lindsey was her everything, and it made her realize what her mother had meant when she was a kid. Family is very important.

"I didn't even know I had a sister until a few hours ago, and now I'm supposed to be there for her like a sister? I can't do that Catherine, I just can't," Sara said.

Sara had to go; she had to leave the room, leave Catherine's gaze. Catherine made her weak, made her want to open up and tell everything. Right now it wasn't the right time for that.

"Go to her Sara. You don't have to do anything; you just have to be there. I'm going to see Gil to update him on the case. Wanna grab something to eat later, before shift?" Catherine hoped Sara would just listen to her, for once.

"Sure," Sara smiled.

"I'll pick you up ok? We need to talk," Catherine said before planting a gentle kiss on Sara's lips, "about this."

Sara smiled and cupped Catherine's cheek with her hand. She didn't know what to say, and even if she did, she probably wouldn't be able to form a sentence. This day had been so emotionally draining. She had kissed Catherine, well Catherine had kissed her, but the outcome was the same. Catherine liked her the way she liked Catherine. Good!

"Yeah..ok." Sara managed to say.

Catherine chuckled. "I'm glad you always know what to say," She said, playfully slapping Sara's shoulder before leaving the room, in search for Grissom.

Grissom was walking past the reception desk and saw a girl sitting in one of the chairs in the waiting room. Her head had fallen to the side and she was breathing steadily, the girl was asleep. The girl seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place her. He shrugged and continued walking towards his office, Catherine had wanted to see him and he wondered what it was about.

When he entered his office, Catherine was already waiting for him.

"We have a problem Gil," she stated simply.


	5. Chapter 5

"For every problem there is a solution," Grissom said triumphantly.

"I don't have time for haiku's or philosophers right now Gil," Catherine said. Tonight had been quite rough, and she was not in the mood for Grissom being well Grissom. "There may be a conflict of interest."

"A conflict of interest?" Grissom questioned.

"The girl we found at the crime scene has turned out to be Sara's long lost sister," She replied simply.

"Emily?" Grissom asked.

Catherine's mouth nearly hit the floor for the umpteenth time today. She shook her head, trying to process what was going on.

"You KNOW her?" Catherine asked, her voice filled with disbelief.

"I didn't know she was Sara's sister, but I know the girl. She is very good; I gave a lecture at her school once, and she just stood out. I just saw her when I walked past the reception desk, but I just couldn't place her," Grissom kept talking, not noticing Catherine at all. "It makes sense she is related to Sara. They look alike, and Emily is almost as brilliant as Sara. I can't believe I didn't think of that before."

"Gil, I don't want to disturb your reverie but I came here to notify you that I will need Nick or Warrick on the case, not to listen to you going all philosophical on me," Catherine said as she placed her hands on her sides to show Grissom she was serious.

"Ok, ok, take Nick. He is still available. And tell Sara I want to talk to her," Grissom told the blonde.

"Sara already left," Catherine informed Grissom before leaving his office in search of Nick.

Catherine found her Texan co-worker in the break room, playing on the Playstation with Greg. As she was leaning against the doorframe she watched the two guys acting as kids for a minute. She smirked; those two would probably never grow up.

"Nicky, game over; you need to help me on a case," she stated bluntly.

Nick looked up at Catherine and groaned.

"Awwww, I was about to kick his ass!" Nick said with his playful smile.

"No way!" Greg protested, but he was quiet after Nick punched him in the shoulder.

"Boys, boys, play nice. We still have half on hour till the end of shift, and Nick, I really want to start working now," Catherine told him.

Nick got up and followed Catherine to her office where she could brief him.

Sara was walking towards the reception desk with led in her shoes. She wasn't ready at all for even having a sister. How was she supposed to be there for her? Although she did feel protective over Emily, she wasn't ready to bring her home and take care of her. And besides, why would a 22 year old want someone mothering her all of a sudden?

It was odd how her feelings could be so mixed about this situation. On one hand she wanted to jump around and shout to the world she had a sister, a normal family member, for as far as she and Emily could be classified as normal that is. But on the other hand, she was afraid about what would happen. She had been fine on her own, and now she had someone with whom to share her life and things; something she was weary about.

She hoped Emily would still be there. After Catherine had told her to pick up Emily and take her home, Sara had taken ages to collect herself in the locker room. When Sara walked into the waiting area, it was empty. She turned around, half-relieved, half worried, to walk outside when the receptionist called her back.

"Miss Sidle, your visitor is with Mr. Grissom," the receptionist told her.

"Ok, thank you," Sara replied. She was far from happy though, for now she had to explain to Grissom too. How was she supposed to explain something she didn't even fully understand herself?

When Catherine left his office, Gil Grissom walked back to the reception area. He had to see for himself. How could he forget Emily? She stood out in the crowd at the lecture about forensic science and criminal justice he had given about a month ago. What a small world.

When Grissom approached her, Emily looked up to see where the noise came from and smiled at the older man.

"Mr. Grissom! I didn't expect to see you here. Do you remember me? From the lecture you gave..."

"Could you come with me Emily?" Grissom asked her, ignoring the question she asked him.

Emily got up and followed him with a disappointed look on her face.

"Sit down," Grissom gently ordered the young woman as they entered his office.

Emily sat down and stared at the older man. After he had given a lecture at school about Forensics and Criminal Justice, she just knew what she wanted to become. She wanted to work in Law Enforcement. Dr. Grissom was one of the smartest people she had met, and he was kind enough to talk to her after class, patiently answering all her questions. And now he was cold towards her, almost avoidant in a way. She felt all this was really unfair. Dr. Grissom had told them that in his line of work he would meet people at the worst day of their lives, and for her it was as her secret lover was found dead. She couldn't believe he treated her like this now.

"You caused quite an upheaval here in the lab," Grissom said calmly.

Grissom hadn't expected to see Emily again this fast. He had decided to follow her until graduation and offer her a job. He saw great potential in the girl. And now that same girl was sitting in front of him; she was Sara's younger sister. What made things worse was that she was also a suspect in a murder investigation. She had lied to Brass and Catherine during her interrogation which only made her more suspicious. Grissom was sure to get more out of Emily than Catherine had earlier today.

"Yeah well, the lab caused quite an upheaval in my life too, so it's only fair," Emily almost bit back.

"I would like to ask you some questions, Emily," Grissom said, ignoring the girl's previous answer.

"With all due respect Mr. Grissom, I am really tired; both from what happened to me today and from answering your colleagues' questions," Emily let out a deep sigh. "I just want to," she sighed again and tried to continue. 'I just want Sara to comfort me' was what her head said, but Emily's mouth couldn't say it. She was afraid of getting too attached to Sara, who seemed all too reluctant to even acknowledge her, and then lose her again. "I just want to go home Mr. Grissom."

"Emily, I know you didn't do it. By answering a few questions, you can walk out here and no longer be a suspect," Grissom said, leaning towards the girl.

"She said she is tired," Sara said as she walked into Grissom's office and overheard her boss trying to convince Emily to answer questions while she was too tired.

Emily looked up at her sister and flashed a faint smile. Her eyes showed gratitude, something Sara noticed. She smiled at Emily before turning to Grissom.

"I'm taking Emily home. I'm sure she will be available for questioning tomorrow after she has had some rest. She's been through enough today, don't you think?" Sara was amazed by herself.

When she overheard Grissom pushing Emily, something inside her had snapped. She hadn't expected to be so protective of her sister so soon. And she was calling Emily 'her sister' already?

Grissom, who was surprised by Sara's reaction, just nodded and let the two women leave.

"Thanks," Emily said as she and Sara walked out of the building.

"You're welcome. He is not the most brilliant person when it comes to taking into account other people's feelings," Sara replied as she opened the car.

When they both got in Sara put her hand on Emily's shoulder. "Hungry?" She asked, and received a nod from Emily.

Sara pulled out of the parking lot and drove towards her favourite diner. Emily was quiet, but Sara didn't mind. Quiet was peaceful.

"Thank you for doing this for me. I know I caused a mayor shock for you today, and I really appreciate you are doing this," Emily said after being quiet for a couple of minutes.

Sara just turned her head and smiled at Emily. She hadn't figured out herself why she was doing what she did and how and if she was dealing with this whole sister thing.

They had enjoyed their meals in silence, stealing an occasional glance at each other. Both women didn't know what to say or how to start a conversation. The silence had been comfortable though; it didn't bother either of them. While they were having coffee, Sara decided she would ask some questions.

"So you are studying here?" Sara asked.

"Yeah. Criminal Justice."

"Nice," Sara replied.

"I want to be like you," Emily slipped out before she knew it. When she realised what she had said, she looked up at Sara in shock.

Sara didn't know what to say, once again. She was flattered by the fact her sister wanted to be like her, but on the other hand it was weird, odd, and a very dangerous profession.

"I'm sorry," Emily said, looking down at the table.

"No, don't be. It's a very honourable profession, and I'm sure you will pull it off. You are a Sidle," Sara said, and for the umpteenth time today she had surprised herself with her remarks. Where the hell did that come from?

Emily smiled at Sara and couldn't hold back the yawn which had been coming for a while now.

"I'll take you home. You have to rest, and I'm sure either Catherine or Grissom will want to talk to you again tomorrow," Sara said as she took her wallet to pay.

Sara shook her head when Emily reached for her wallet. "I'll get it," she said.

Emily muttered a thanks and was about to get up. Sara stopped her by putting her hand on Emily's arm.

"Emily, please go along with everything tomorrow. I know you are upset, but if you answer all questions honestly, you will help catching the bastard who did this to your friend," Sara said, looking straight into Emily's big brown eyes.

"I will. I'm sorry that I got you pulled of the case," she said before putting on her jacket.

The waitress came to tidy the table and take the money Sara had put on the table while both women got up and left the diner in silence.

"Can you take me to a motel please?" Emily asked Sara. "I don't want to go back home. Not now."

Sara nodded, trying to ignore her inner turmoil. She heard Catherine's words, and she heard her heart speaking, both telling her to take Emily home with her and let her sleep on the couch. But her mind was taking over. She wanted to take things slow, and she didn't want to get attached to Emily too soon. She didn't want to risk the hurt that might be caused by Emily leaving or something happening to Emily.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **_This is a short one, but bare with me guys. I'm in the middle of my exams and longer chapters are on their way! Thanks again to Ez, my great beta!_

Sara tossed her keys on the table next to the door and sighed. Had she done the right thing? At the moment, it felt like a wise decision, but she wasn't behind it 100 percent. She had left Emily at a motel just outside the city center, and she insisted on paying for her. Emily hadn't thanked her, but the look in her eyes had said enough. It was odd, almost freaky, how much they were alike.

As she stood in the kitchen, fixing something that was an excuse for a healthy breakfast, Catherine entered her mind. What a day she had today. With all the fuss around Emily, she hadn't had the time to seriously think about what had happened between her and Catherine today. It was a mayor thing. She had kissed Catherine Willows. THE Catherine Willows; the unobtainable object of her affection. A smile crept up to her face at the thought of how soft Catherine's lips felt on hers. Unconsciously she touched her lips as she remembered their kiss; she had it bad for her blonde co-worker.

She wondered if Catherine was thinking of her now, if she was thinking of their kiss too, but then she shook her head. Catherine was probably too busy with Lindsay right now to think of her, and besides she didn't even know if the kiss meant the same to Catherine as it did to her. She was upset when she kissed Catherine. It wasn't a kiss out of a heated moment of passion; it was more of a reassuring kiss. Catherine probably didn't have the same feelings she had. Catherine probably wasn't even into women in the first place. God she had been so stupid!

Sara banged her head against the kitchen cabinet hanging in front of her. How could she have been so stupid? Hell, it was a great kiss, but she was risking her friendship, if it could even be called a friendship, with Catherine. And even worse, she was risking her job. She felt tears well up in her eyes and cursed herself for being so weak. She sat down with her breakfast and ate quietly while reading a forensics magazine. She tried to focus on the article she was reading, but her mind refused to work with her.

It wasn't only Catherine that had turned her life upside down today; she also suddenly had a younger sister. She still wasn't sure how she felt about that. Inside she felt this big need to take care of Emily; she wanted to prevent Emily from becoming like her, from becoming as socially inapt as she was. She also wanted to get to know Emily because maybe they would get along well. Maybe she could do this family thing. Sara finally realised how she had been longing to be part of something, to be part of a family. The guys and Catherine were family, but still this was different. There was also another thing eating on her from the inside. Doing this family thing with Emily would mean letting her in her life, in her house, everywhere, and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that.

And then there was still Catherine; how was she going to face her at work? Catherine had encouraged her to let Emily stay with her, to get to know Emily, but she hadn't really listened. Now Sara was sitting on her couch, staring ahead of her, wondering if she should have listened. With a deep sigh, she got up and got ready for bed. Maybe some sleep would clear her mind.

Emily was lying on the motel bed, staring at the ceiling as silent tears were running down her cheeks. When she ran away from San Francisco, she hoped that her life would be better, that things would be looking up for her, but instead it was all going downhill in an ultra fast pace. Instead of having friends and hanging around with them in her messy dorm room, she was alone, lying in a bed in a gross motel. She looked around the room and snorted. The curtains had holes in them, and they were half torn, letting through almost all the sunlight. When she moved on the bed, it would creak so loud she was afraid it would crack into two pieces. And the shower... well, she didn't even want to think about the shower. This place would definitely be an interesting crime scene.

Her time here hadn't been as she had hoped it would be. Instead of making friends, she seemed particularly good at making enemies. It even came to the point where she had moved away from the dorm because she just couldn't stand it anymore. She had promised herself that she would never fall back into the routine she had in San Francisco. She had promised herself to make sure she had a lot of people around her; she never, ever, wanted to be alone again or to feel the pain that accompanied her loneliness. She wondered if maybe she had tried too hard to fit in; maybe she had tried too hard to be someone people would like. She found herself becoming something she hated, trying to fit in with the popular kids at school.

One night she had come home from a party, and she found a note from her project partner. The girl had waited for hours in the library for her, but instead of paying attention to school, Emily Sidle was out partying at a party she wasn't really welcome at in the first place. The note touched Emily's heart, and as she stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself, she could only see the monster she had become. She found that her own reflection disgusted her. In all her years, she had been like her project partner: eager to learn and not caring about popularity. But that had changed when she arrived here, in Sin city. She was indeed sinning. She was lying to the outer world about herself, but what was even worse, she was lying to herself. All the hard work she had done learning to respect herself for who she was and accepting who she was and where she came from, she had thrown all out of the window. And for what? To become something she swore she would never be, for a girl, as a part of something that was supposed to be love.

That night, she decided to turn her back on the partying and turn her back on that girl. Little did she know that girl would be found dead less than a week later. And little did she know that her own sister would be one of the CSI's processing the crime scene which was definitely proof of how small the world can be.

Tomorrow she would give her statement and then leave Las Vegas for good. She had caused more than enough damage already.


	7. Chapter 7

Sara groaned when the sound of her alarm clock woke her up. She hardly got any sleep. As she checked the time, she wondered why she had set her alarm so early, and then she remembered. Dinner with Catherine; damn. Sara quickly got up and took a shower.

Catherine woke up with a smile, this tension thing between her and Sara would be solved soon. She wanted to dress up as sexy as possible, but her clothes also had to be fit for work, so it took her a while to pick just the right outfit.

With no time to spare, Sara arrived at the diner where she agreed to meet Catherine. She liked being early so she could prepare herself for what was about to come. Catherine was going to tell her that the kiss was a mistake; it was just meant to reassure her and comfort her. It was all good; she knew she and Catherine would never be together. Sara ordered a coffee and waited for Catherine to arrive.

Sara looked at the door to see Catherine walk in, and her jaw almost hit the floor when she saw the gorgeous blonde entering the diner. Was it just her or did Catherine look extra sexy tonight? When Catherine spotted her, she rewarded Sara with one of her trademark smiles. Sara could have sworn she melted right on the spot. God, how was she ever going to look at Catherine in a normal way again?

"Hey, you look good," Catherine greeted a very nervous Sara.

"Hey yourself. You give the word good a whole different meaning," Sara replied, still gasping at Catherine's outfit.

Catherine blushed at the remark, but quickly regained her composure. No one made Catherine Willows blush.

When Sara realised Catherine blushed, she felt herself turn red as well. She didn't know why, but suddenly she felt even more insecure than ever.

"How did it go with Emily?" Catherine asked, inspecting the menu.

"Fine," Sara replied, trying to indicate that was something she didn't want to talk about. To stress that she changed the subject, "What are you having?" She asked, looking at Catherine.

Catherine knew better than to continue on the "Emily" topic; she would figure that out later. Right now it was time to talk about the "kiss" topic and the "I might have feelings for you" topic.

"Caesar salad works for me," she said smiling. She decided not to flaunt meat in front of Sara's nose.

Sara smiled back. "I'll go for that too. Are you sure you're not going to eat meat?"

Catherine nodded her head.

"Alright."

"So..." Catherine started.

"So..." Sara didn't know what to say. She wanted desperately for Catherine to lead this talk.

"I know we haven't been the best of friends, but that doesn't mean I don't like you Sara. I really want to get to know you better," Catherine said, looking deep into Sara's eyes.

There it was Catherine wanted to get to know her better. What did that mean exactly? Did Catherine want to get to know her better as a friend or as a lover?

"Ok," was all Sara managed to mumble. She didn't know what to say, do, or even think. She hated being so inexperienced when it came to this, and she really didn't want to screw up because she had had her eye on Catherine for years now.

"Is that all you can come up with?" Catherine was getting a little pissed off. "I'm telling you I want to get to know you better, that I might like you as more than just a friend, and all you can say is ok?" Catherine raised her eyebrow at the brunette who was sitting across the table from her.

Sara's head shot up. Did she hear that right? Did Catherine like her?

"You...what?" Sara stuttered.

"You heard me Sidle. I'm not going to repeat it," Catherine said, feeling her cheeks flush. Sara did things to her no one ever managed to do before. Sara was infuriating her as well as turning her on. Something she could not use so shortly before work.

"I...erm...yeah," Sara lost her ability to form proper sentences, in her mind she was jumping around and shouting 'Catherine likes me'. If only her mind would help her focus on forming sentences.

Finally her mind seemed to settle down a little and help her. "I would love to, Cath," she said while smiling at the blonde.

Catherine smiled back when she realised that Sara was shocked by her confession. It made her proud that she managed to throw the ever-so-cool Sara Sidle off balance. She reached her hands over the table and took Sara's hands in hers.

"Good," was all she said while she was staring into the chocolate brown eyes that intrigued her so much. Sara was an enigma to her, a puzzle she wanted to solve.

Sara looked into the piercing blue eyes of Catherine Willows. In those eyes, Sara was sure she could drown and still survive.

"What about Emily, Sara?" Catherine asked.

Sara sighed. "I think I made a mistake."

Catherine tightened her grip on Sara's hands, trying to reassure her. She could see the brunette was nervous and felt uncomfortable talking about her sister.

"I don't know, Cath," Sara said. She wanted to talk to Catherine, but she didn't know if she could.

"You don't know what?" Catherine asked her, trying to get her to talk.

"I'm scared," Sara replied.

"Scared of what?"

"That I will mess up, with Emily, with you," Sara looked up into Catherine's eyes.

"Oh Sara, don't worry about messing up with me. I like you for who you are, and that includes your flaws," Catherine looked straight into Sara's eyes to make sure the brunette would see that she meant it. "And Emily is your family. No matter how much you mess up, she will always be your family. Emily needs you Sara. She is confused, and she is feeling lonely. And most of all, she looks up to you, you are important to her, even though you two only just met."

Sara knew Catherine was right, but could she fix the mistake she made last night?

"Where is Emily now? Is she still at your place?" Catherine asked Sara when she didn't reply.

Sara felt herself turn red. Last night she thought creating a little distance between her and Emily would be good. When she got home, she started doubting about that, and now she was sure she made a mistake.

"Last night, I...erm, I left her in a motel," Sara said softly.

"What?" Catherine couldn't believe her ears. Well maybe she could; this was so Sara. Catherine understood that Sara was afraid of letting someone into her life, but Emily was her own sister Her own flesh and blood Catherine just couldn't believe how Sara could turn Emily down like that.

Catherine got up and put on her coat. Sara's heart sank; she had messed up with both Emily and Catherine. And all that in one day. Way to go

"Where are you going?" Sara asked; she didn't even recognize her own voice.

"WE are going to get Emily, Sara. She needs to talk to us, she is the most important witness, and she is your SISTER," Catherine felt the anger boil up again. How stupid could Sara have been?

"Oh," was all Sara managed to say. She threw some money on the table before following Catherine out of the diner. If this was their first date, then she managed to screw it up. Way to go Sidle

As soon as Sara got in the truck, Catherine sped off.

Emily got tired of lying on the bed with her eyes closed. One of her foster mothers had once told her that if you can't sleep, you can also just lie on your bed with your eyes closed; that way you also rest. She had tried that for a while, but she couldn't catch her sleep, and she did not feel rested. As she got up and stretched, she looked around the room, hoping something had changed since she had gotten here this morning. But nothing was less true, it was still the same shabby motel room.

Emily felt scruffy and in no state of going to the Crime Lab to give her statement. She had to find a way to sneak onto campus or to sneak into her house to take a shower. The thought made her snort, she felt like she could easily be mistaken for a homeless girl if she was found dead now.

Emily mentally slapped herself for her morbid imagination; she had always felt she had a sick imagination. She was afraid that her sick fascination with death would cause her trouble later on in life. Although she had to admit she was far from fascinated when she found Dana's body. A single tear ran over her cheek as she thought about Dana.

Emily shook her head; she wanted to get rid of those thoughts. She couldn't think of Dana anymore and especially not in the state Dana was in when she had last seen her. If there was something Emily Sidle was good at, it was at pushing away bad thoughts and feelings. She had learned the hard way that no matter how hard you push, those bad thoughts and feelings will come back and haunt you, but Emily was quickly mastering the art of fending of melancholic thoughts and feelings. Dana had told her that if she did that, she was hiding who she was and that people might think she was some sort of ice queen. Emily herself knew she was far from an ice queen, but if people wanted to think that, it wasn't her problem.

Again Emily shook her head. Why did Dana appear everywhere in her thoughts? Did she come back to haunt Emily? When she finally managed to get rid of Dana in her head, another woman came up. A woman by the name of Sara Sidle who was supposedly her sister. Emily sighed, she had no idea what to expect of Sara. Last night it became quite clear Sara didn't want anything to do with her, although deep down she felt as if Sara was trying to reach out for her.

Emily was looking at the business card in her hand; maybe she should call Sara before taking off. Did she just think that because deep down she didn't want to leave Las Vegas? Or did she just want her own sister to tell her that she wanted her around? Emily got so tired of thinking and of the chimaeras haunting her. She decided to just do something for once, not think it over a million times and then in the end deciding not to do it anyway. So many things had gone by her in her life this way, and she was tired of it.

With shaking fingers she dialled the number on Sara's business card, it was amazing Sara even had one. While the phone rang, Emily traced Sara's name with her finger; Sara Sidle, her sister.

Catherine looked at Sara when her phone rang. "Who is it?" she asked the brunette.

"I don't know, I don't recognize the number," Sara said before picking up.

"Sidle," she answered.

"Hey, it's...erm...Emily," Emily said nervously. Yup, calling Sara was a bad idea.

"Hey Emily," Sara said while looking at Catherine who mouthed her to ask where Emily was.

"I just wanted to call to say goodbye. I'm leaving Las Vegas," Emily said with a sigh.

"You can't leave Emily" Sara could feel her heart beating in her throat. She finally found her sister; there was no way she was going to let her leave just like that. "Where are you?"

"Don't bother Sara. I know I'm not welcome, it's ok."

"No, Emily" Sara's mind added 'I made a mistake last night, I'm sorry', but somehow her mouth couldn't work with her mind.

"I'm just going to give my statement and then go back to Frisco or wherever."

"Emily, where are you?" Catherine grabbed the phone out of Sara's hand. She was getting tired of the 'I'm not able to say what I think' thing Sara had going on.

"At a motel," Emily said to Catherine.

"Give Sara the name and address, and we will pick you up right away. We will take you to the Lab so you can give your statement," Catherine told her while looking at Sara as if she was trying to say 'this is how it's supposed to be done'.

She gave the phone back to Sara.

"I would like to take a shower before I go to the Lab," Emily said, not knowing Sara was back on the phone.

"You can take a shower at my place," Sara said, wondering where that suddenly came from.

"Oh Sara, it's you. Thanks," Emily said.

"Emily?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

Emily's heart jumped. So it was true. She didn't see it the wrong way; Sara was trying to reach out for her

"It's ok, I understand. I will see you soon," She said before hanging up.

"Now, that's better Sara," Catherine said with a smile. This would be a step in the right direction.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **_This will be my last chapter this week since I have exams coming up, starting tomorrow. I will return to writing more ASAP, that's a promise!_

* * *

As they pulled over at the shabby motel Emily had been staying in, Sara's eyes grew wide. How did Emily get here?

"This is not the place I left her at," Sara defended herself against Catherine who shot a death glare at her.

"I still can't believe you didn't take her home with you," Catherine snapped.

"I regret that now, ok. Please let it go," Sara said, her voice filled with guilt.

"Let's go get her," Catherine said as she gently squeezed Sara's hand. Maybe she had been a bit harsh on the brunette.

Emily was fidgeting with the zipper of her jacket while she was standing in the reception area. She looked up when she saw the fiery blonde walking up to the reception with Sara following suit.

"Emily," Catherine said. "Are you ready?"

Sara stood next to Catherine, flashing a faint smile at Emily.

"Yes, I am," Emily said. She looked at Sara and saw the guilt in her sister's eyes. She wanted to hug her and say it was ok, but she didn't just like she didn't do most things she wanted in life.

Catherine turned around to her truck, giving Sara some time alone with Emily. She shook her head as she thought of Sara. She just didn't understand why someone so beautiful and smart was so socially inept. Emily seemed a bit more talented in that area, even though she wasn't the most popular girl at school. Catherine remembered when they picked Emily up from the dorm. Some guys had whistled and called her names, and she wondered if Sara maybe had undergone the same.

Sara just stood there and stared at something in the room behind her. Emily chuckled, not at her sister, but at the whole situation. How was this ever going to work? They were both so...well, them.

"What?" Sara asked, wondering what was so funny. This situation was far from funny.

"Nothing. Well just...us." Emily almost snorted.

Sara smiled. "Yeah."

"Thanks Sara," Emily said with a smile as she walked past her sister to follow Catherine outside.

"You're welcome," Sara mumbled to no one in particular before turning around as well. This was going to be interesting. It was hard enough to let one person in her life. Now there were two women getting in at the same time, and she had no choice but to let them.

As the three women arrived at Sara's apartment, Sara nervously fidgeted with her keys, missing a couple of times before the lock finally clicked and the door opened. She was nervous about showing her apartment to the women, not because it was a mess but just because it was a piece of her, a part of her life. She was afraid of letting people in; both her apartment and her life.

Sara showed Emily the bathroom and gave her some privacy to shower. When Sara walked back into her living room, she caught Catherine checking out her bookshelves and picture frames.

"Busted," she grinned as she saw Catherine jump.

"Sara..." Catherine couldn't continue because Sara was walking towards her in a way that was almost too sexy for words. What was going on with her?

"Sara, Emily is in the bathroom," Catherine warned, watching Sara come closer until she was only inches way from her.

"She is showering yeah," Sara said, placing her hands on Catherine's hips.

That and the idea of what was about to come was enough for Catherine to forget all about her so called excuses. She felt her heart jump when Sara's lips touched hers, and goose bumps appeared on her back when she felt Sara's hands trace her sides.

Catherine decided to take control and licked Sara's bottom lip. Sara parted her lips to let out a soft moan and Catherine took full advantage of that by slipping her tongue between Sara's lips. Another moan escaped from Sara's throat, this time it was one of surprise. 'HA!' Catherine thought, 'serves you right.'

Sara felt as if she was swimming somewhere; she felt Catherine's tongue massaging her own, and Catherine's hands seemed to be everywhere. It was an amazing feeling; a feeling she definitely didn't want to let go.

When Catherine took a step back to get some air, Sara pouted. The sight of Catherine made her smile.

"Don't go all cute on me Sidle. We've got Emily and work to think about," Catherine said while taking Sara's hands in hers.

"I like this," Sara said with a smile. She leaned forward and gently kissed Catherine on the lips.

"Me too, Sara, me too," Catherine hummed. She was still amazed by the way Sara was acting now she was at home. She seemed a whole different person; it seemed that within the walls of her apartment, the walls around Sara didn't exist.

Catherine suddenly felt a strong need to hug Sara. She stepped closer to the brunette and wrapped her arms around her.

Sara was startled at the beginning, but when Catherine settled her head just below her chin, she felt really comfortable. They were a perfect fit. Sara smiled and kissed Catherine's hair.

"Ok," Catherine sighed. "Let's get ready to go. I'm sure Emily will be done soon."

Sara looked at Catherine and smiled. "You look adorable."

Catherine gasped and checked herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed, and her lips were still a little swollen from the kiss. Sara chuckled as Catherine glared at her.

At that moment, Emily came from the bathroom, looking a lot better. The shower seemed to have revitalized her. Catherine smiled and noticed with the wet hair, Emily looked just like Sara.

"Ok ladies, ready to go?" Catherine asked while swinging her keys around her fingers. She had taken a few deep breaths and felt the red disappear from her cheeks.

"As ready as I can be," Emily said, forcing a smile on her face.

"You will do great," Sara said, causing the two other women to stare at her in surprise.

Sara looked at Catherine as if she meant to say 'what?', earning a chuckle from the blonde. For someone who was trying to hide herself from the world, she wasn't doing a very good job. Everyone knew what she was like.

The closer they got to the Lab, the more nervous Emily seemed to become. She was fidgeting in her seat. Sara noticed Emily's uneasiness and turned around to face her.

"Do you want me to come with you when you give your statement?" Sara asked, hoping this would ease Emily's tension.

"That's alright. I can do it myself," Emily said, but her voice gave away this wasn't true.

"Ok. Catherine and Captain Brass will take your statement," Sara said. It was odd; in a way it hurt her that Emily was acting like this. She just knew Emily was scared, but the younger woman just wouldn't admit it.

Catherine parked her car in the parking lot of the Lab. All three women were quiet when they entered the building. Catherine and Sara exchanged a look of affection which caused Catherine's stomach to feel funny. She felt like a giddy teenager, but who was she kidding? She loved it.

"I'm going to get Brass. I will see you later," she said to Sara with a wink.

When Sara and Emily were alone, Emily cleared her throat, trying to get her sister's attention.

"Erm..Sara?" Emily asked softly.

"Yes?" Sara replied.

"Could you come with me anyway? I would like you to be there," Emily said, almost whispering.

At first Sara wasn't sure she heard it right, but the small smile on Emily's face gave it away. She felt like hugging Emily because she knew this was quite a step for her younger sister.

"Of course," Sara replied with a smile.

Catherine met up with Brass near the interrogation room they had agreed to meet Emily.

"Good evening to you," Brass said with a smile.

"Hey Jim," Catherine replied.

"It's always a pleasure to work with one of my favourite ladies from the Graveyard shift," he said. "Are you ready to rumble?"

Catherine smiled; she still wasn't sure whether Brass was flirting with her or just being nice.

"I don't think this is going to be a problem."

"Well, yesterday she caused quite a ruckus. I'm curious to what else she has in store for us," Brass said.

"Sara talked to her. I'm sure she will cooperate with us," Catherine told Brass.

"So even when she is not on the case, our Sara is still the hero," Brass said with a grin.

"Family influence is always a good stimulant," Catherine replied.

"Let's go inside and see what the young Sidle has to say. I hope she will listen to her big sister. I'm tired of her messing with us."

"She wasn't messing with us, she was just scared," Catherine defended Emily.

Jim chuckled. "However you want to call it. She was one of the worst suspects for me this month. I hate smartasses."

"Let's just go in Jim," Catherine almost ordered. Sometimes men could be so ignorant!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:**_ I'm back hehe. My exams went very well. Yesterday I passed the most important one YAY so now I'll have more time to write :D Have fun with reading guys!_

Sara sat down on the chair next to Emily. She looked over at her sister and saw how tense she was; it was like looking in the mirror. Emily's shoulders were squared, and she sat straight in her chair.

Sara knew just how Emily felt, and she desperately wanted to do something to calm her down. Sara truly believed Emily was just at the wrong place at the wrong time and that she had nothing to be stressed about. Sara felt a bit uncomfortable herself; her mind and heart were at war once again. She decided to listen to her heart this time; it was time to act like she was supposed to.

"Relax Emily, they won't bite," Sara said as she put her hand on Emily's shoulder.

At first Emily retreated from Sara's touch. She didn't like to be touched, at least not if she wasn't prepared for it. But Sara's smile and reassuring look managed to settle her down a bit.

Just at that moment, Catherine and Brass entered the room.

"You will do fine," Sara whispered to Emily.

Emily smiled and took a deep breath. She was going to do fine. And even if she was about to screw up, she felt that Sara would be there to help.

"Well, well," Brass said as he looked at both Sara and Emily. He always had a weak spot for Sara, like the daughter he never had, but for some reason he had something against Emily. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he was going to find out why.

Emily looked at Brass and tried to figure out what he was thinking. Unfortunately she couldn't read minds because she was worried that he didn't like her.

"Sir, first I would like to apologize for my behavior yesterday. I was upset by the whole situation and dealt with it the wrong way," Emily said calmly, hoping the Captain would understand it.

"That's alright Emily," Catherine said. "Now please tell us what happened."

Emily took a deep breath before she started talking.

"Dana is, well was, my friend. She was one of the popular girls, the type that has a new boyfriend every week. Her last flame was Dean; I believe his last name is Messing. They were dating for a while I think, and she didn't talk about him much, but word got around. I knew Dana because I helped her out with projects, and we studied together. In the beginning, she wouldn't even look at me, but when she failed the forensic course, our teacher sent her to me for help. We found out that we got along very well, and we started doing all our projects together. Dean didn't like that because she was spending a lot of time away from him. If it was up to him, she'd be following him like a puppy all day long," Emily told them as she rolled her eyes at her last remark, causing Sara to chuckle.

"Anyway, that's how I knew Dana. We got along well, and one night not too long ago she kissed me after having a long talk about sexuality and stuff. She almost found it ridiculous that I had never tried to kiss a girl, so she generously offered to be that girl for me. We were supposed to go to the cinema and talk about our kiss yesterday. She said she had things to tell me. We were supposed to meet in the library, but when she didn't show up I went to look for her. She had left a note on her door for someone, probably her roommate, saying that she was over at Dean's room. I went to check and I found her in... well in the position she was lying in." A tear rolled down Emily's cheek as she finished speaking.

"She was the only person who noticed me, like really noticed me," Emily said.

Sara put her hand on Emily's shoulder again. She wished she could take the pain away from her sister; Emily didn't deserve this.

"Why did you hide?" Brass asked. He didn't seem to be affected by the emotional confession Emily just gave.

Emily looked up at the Captain; he was standing there with his arms crossed in front of his chest: pure macho behavior.

"When I checked if Dana was still alive, I heard noises. I thought it was Dean, so I hid in the closet. He would kill me if he found me with her, he and his friends would. Well they are more like minions. They made it clear to me that the next time I came close to Dana, and I quote, 'I wouldn't have this semi-pretty face anymore'. So I was scared. When I saw cops, I really had nowhere to go. I managed to keep quiet for a while, but when I saw Sara, I almost fell over. I guess that was when she and Miss Willows heard me."

Brass frowned at Emily. He didn't believe her.

"Let me tell you how it happened Emily," he started. "After Dana kissed you and you found her with Dean, you got pissed off and stabbed her for cheating on you."

All three women in the room stared at Brass for different reasons: Catherine in disbelief, Sara with surprise, and Emily in awe.

Emily felt herself go rigid. She was suspect, and the Captain didn't believe her. Unconsciously she grasped Sara's hand which was propped up on the arm rest. It took only a few seconds for Emily to regain her composure. If this guy was going to play it like this, the game was on.

"I would like to see the evidence that backs your story up Mr. Brass," She said with a daring tone.

Sara was shocked, but she wasn't sure what shocked her more; Brass's theory or Emily's reaction to it. She was almost rude to the Captain, although she couldn't blame the young Sidle.

"That's what I have my CSI's for Miss Sidle," Brass replied.

"Your CSI's can search as long as they want; you can't find evidence that doesn't exist. As you obviously know Mr. Brass, I don't have many friends around me, and before yesterday I had no family whatsoever around me either, so do you really think I would kill one of the few people I confide in? I thought you were smarter than that." Emily's eyes grew bigger after her last sentence; she knew she had crossed the line.

Brass leaned on the table and lowered his face to Emily's. "You think you are so smart huh? I will get you; it takes more than watching Discovery Channel to commit the perfect murder young lady. I'd hate to disappoint you, but there is no such thing as the perfect murder."

Emily smiled sweetly at Brass before getting up. "I think I would like to go now. I came in here to help and tell my version of what happened, but if I am a suspect in this case, I won't cooperate any further without a lawyer present," Emily said, and with that she left the room.

Sara glared at Brass. "You can be such an asshole sometimes! She is my sister dammit," she said before pacing out after Emily.

Brass shrugged and looked at Catherine.

"I'm sorry Jim, but you were out of line. She isn't a suspect," Catherine said, shaking her head at the Captain.

"I like her for it," Brass replied simply. "And I think she is using the fact that she is Sara's sister."

"Do I need to remind you that she tried to hide that from us at first?" Catherine asked.

"Nothing beats a little drama, Catherine. Look at Sara; she is following Emily around like a puppy dog. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Emily is using Sara for her innocent act," Brass boldly said.

"We will see what the evidence tells us Jim," Catherine replied, knowing there was no chance for a rational discussion with him now.

"And I'll be breathing down that girl's neck until we get those answers," Brass answered.

"Please Jim, she won't run. She just found Sara, I'm sure she won't leave. Just give them some space," Catherine pleaded.

It wasn't just for Sara's sake she was doing this, but also for her own sake. She didn't want this Emily thing to strain their relationship, if what they had at the moment could be called a relationship.

Catherine went to search for Nick and see how he was doing with the evidence they found. She wanted to go back to the crime scene to find the murder weapon, it had to be somewhere. She truly hoped, for everyone's sake, that they would find evidence to back up Emily's story. She never once doubted Emily was speaking the truth, but after what Brass told her, she did realise she was a little biased on this case.

"Emily, wait," Sara shouted as she ran after her sister.

Emily didn't react and kept walking; she just wanted to get out of this building, away from that stupid excuse for a Captain.

Sara caught up with Emily and stopped her by putting her hand on her younger sisters' shoulder.

"Emily," she said, trying to catch her breath from the sprint she just made.

"It's ok Sara; I understand that I'm a suspect now. I'll stay in Vegas but away from you. I'm so"

"What?" Sara almost blurted out, "Are you kidding me? You just found me; I don't want you to stay away from me."

Emily looked up at Sara in surprise. Did she hear that right? Was Sara backing her up? Was Sara finally accepting the whole sister thing?

"Emily, I know I made a mistake and was a bit off with you in the beginning, but you have to realise that I never knew I had a sister. I never had a chance to prepare for you. And as you might know, my people skills aren't something to write home about either," Sara snorted at her last sentence. She hated to admit it, but it would have been useless to hide it; the whole world knew.

Emily chuckled at Sara. "It's a good thing we don't have to write home then."

Sara smiled at Emily. It was time to try to catch up with this girl. She was intriguing, and Sara wanted to know all about her.

Suddenly tears started streaming down Emily's face. She had been holding her composure for so long that it was draining all her energy from her. And Sara's very meaningful smile was just the last drop.

Sara looked at her sister bursting into tears and didn't really know what to do. Well her mind knew what to do, but her body didn't seem to react. After standing there for a few seconds, she opened her arms and Emily walked into her. She gently wrapped her arms around her sister and let her cry.

They just stood there for a while. Sara's thoughts were whirling through her head like a tornado. So this is what it feels like to protect someone, to let them come to you. This was how it was going to be. It felt right, even though Sara still felt slightly uncomfortable with the whole hugging thing.

Emily thought Sara was just going to stand there, but after a very awkward moment her older sister opened her arms. She didn't know how fast to step closer and let her sister hold her. She wanted to hide from the world, to hide from the shame and embarrassment.

When Sara wrapped her arms around her, Emily immediately felt safe. She was so happy she had found her sister and so happy that they connected in some weird kind of way.

Sara felt Emily's sobs subsiding and saw that as a cue to pull back. She looked at her younger sister who was wiping the tears out of her face.

"I'm sorry," Emily said.

"Hey, no problem. Don't worry about it. Let's get you home ok?" Sara said, leading Emily out of the Lab.

Catherine had taken Nick and Greg with her to the crime scene; she figured that three pairs of eyes were enough to find the murder weapon. After less than 10 minutes, she heard Greg whistle.

"Lookie lookie what I got here," Greg said with a smug grin on his face. He was holding a Stiletto knife, swinging it like a pendulum.

"You've got to be shitting me," Catherine mumbled out loud when she saw where Greg found the knife.

Both Greg and Nick looked at Catherine with their eyebrows raised.

"That's where Sara and I found Emily," Catherine said to explain her previous outing.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **_I'm back! Get used to it hehe. Exams are almost over, just have one practical exam to go. So, less studying, more writing! Thank you all for the kind reviews, I'm really glad you guys are enjoying this story!_

Greg's eyes grew a size as he spoke, "You mean the cute chick that Brass was all worked up about?"

"Don't you think she is a little bit young for you Greg?" Nick chuckled.

"Plus, she is Sara's sister," Catherine added, making two jaws hit the floor.

"No way," Nick said when he managed to pick his jaw up from the floor. "Our suspect is Sara's sister?"

"I guess cuteness runs in the family then," Greg joked.

"Listen Greg, this is not funny," Catherine said in her mother tone. She put her hands on her sides to stress to Greg that this was no time for jokes.

"Sorry," Greg replied as he bagged the knife he had just found. "I'll get this to the lab and test it for prints.

"Where did you find it exactly Greg?" Catherine asked. She couldn't believe she had overlooked it the first time.

"It was hidden under this shoe box. I didn't see it at first, but the tip of the knife was sticking out slightly and reflected the light of my flashlight," Greg said as he held the shoe box up; the bottom was covered in blood.

"I bet that's Dana's," Nick mumbled.

"Get it to the lab and run it ASAP," Catherine said before turning towards Nick.

"Nick, you come with me," Catherine wanted to check out Emily's room. She truly hoped Emily wasn't the one who had killed Dana; not only for the younger woman's sake, but also for Sara's.

"Where are we going?" the Texan asked Catherine.

"We are going to check out Emily's room. We didn't have a reason to go there before, but we do now," Catherine answered.

"So how did you find out that she is Sara's sister?" Nick asked carefully.

"She told us; well it was more that we had to pull it out of her. She lied about her name at first... hell she hardly told us anything," Catherine said.

"Ah, now Brass' reaction makes sense." Nick said, following Catherine off the campus. "Erm Cath, where are we going?" Nick asked while looking around. He was sure they were leaving campus.

"Emily doesn't live on campus; she was pestered until she left campus." Catherine replied.

"Ouch," was all Nick could reply. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Emily.

The residence Emily lived in with several other students was called "Greek house". Gold coloured metal letters were mounted to a piece of wood on wall, but one very funny guy unscrewed the R. Now the sign on the house said "Geek house".

Nick chuckled as he saw it. It was immensely funny, even though it wasn't really funny. He could understand that the people living in this house didn't appreciate the joke very much.

As they entered the building, they almost bumped into a young man. He was carrying a big overnight bag which fell on the floor as he bumped into Catherine. The young man clenched one of the handles in his hand which caused the fabric of the bag to tear. Women's clothing fell out, making Nick raise his eyebrow.

"Going to a drag show are we?" Catherine asked the boy who had turned red as a tomato. "What's your name?"

"Paul, Paul Johnson. I am just taking my girlfriend's clothes to the Laundromat, she is away for a while," he said.

Catherine didn't think it was possible but the young man turned even redder than he already was.

"Who is your girlfriend?" Nick asked. He didn't believe one word of the story. Who would take folded clothing to a Laundromat?

"Emily" the young man answered; he wanted to continue but his voice broke. "Erm Sidle," He said. His voice was so soft that both Nick and Catherine had to pay extra attention.

"Nick, stay here with him. I'm going to make a phone call," Catherine said as she walked outside.

She had to confirm what the young man said. She didn't believe a word of it.

"Sidle."

"Hey baby, it's me." Catherine said unconsciously. When she heard herself speak she gasped. Did she really say that?

"Hey, what's up?" Sara replied with a low, almost flirty tone. She couldn't believe Catherine had called her baby, but it sounded good. The most beautiful woman in the world called her baby!

"Can you ask Emily if she has a boyfriend?" Catherine asked.

"Erm, what is this about?" Sara asked, finding the question rather strange.

"You know what, just give me Emily on the phone please."

Sara looked at Emily who had been staring at her during the phone call as if she was trying to read her mind.

"It's Catherine, she wants to talk to you," Sara said while handing Emily the phone.

"Miss Willows?" Emily said into the phone, wondering why the hell this woman wanted to talk to her.

"Hey Emily, please call me Catherine," Catherine replied. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Ok," was all Emily replied.

'Just as talkative as her sister' Catherine thought to herself. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"NO," Emily's voice was filled with surprise. Catherine realized she sounded just like Lindsey when she asked her daughter if she had a boyfriend at school.

"Ok, thank you," Catherine said.

"Wait, Miss–Catherine, why do you want to know?" Emily asked, hoping Catherine wouldn't hang up.

"We just bumped into a young man who claims to be your boyfriend," Catherine told Emily.

"Really?" Emily was surprised. Who would do such a thing?

"I will talk to you about this later Emily, I have to go now. Tell Sara I said hi ok?" Catherine said, wanting to wrap up the conversation.

"Ok, I will. Bye." Emily gave the phone to Sara. "Catherine says hi."

Sara was rather disappointed that Catherine hung up already. Or was it that she was disappointed because she missed Catherine's voice?

After calling Brass, Catherine walked back inside. This Paul Johnson guy was weird, walking around with Emily's clothes.

"Paul, we would like to talk to you," Catherine said.

"Why?" Paul asked.

"Because you just lied to us," Catherine replied.

Nick raised his eyebrow and looked at Catherine.

"Paul here is not Emily's boyfriend, I just checked," Catherine explained to him.

At that moment Paul threw the bag at Catherine and ran off. Nick caught up with him fast enough, silently thanking himself for staying in shape.

"You are coming with us big guy," Nick said as he saw Brass pull up near the building.

"I'm not saying anything," Paul said as Nick led him to Brass' car.

Sara was curled up on one corner of the couch as she sipped on her coffee. Instead of watching the movie, she was observing Emily who was sitting in the same position but on the other side of the couch. Emily was looking at the screen, but Sara doubted if her sister had seen even a tiny bit of the movie. Sara wondered what was going on in Emily's head. What was she thinking about? Did she know who killed her friend? Sara got the strong feeling that Emily knew more than she was letting out.

Just when she wanted to ask Emily about it, her younger sister got up and stretched herself.

"I guess it's time for me to go home," she said, not looking at her sister.

Sara groaned inwardly. She really wanted to talk to her sister. She wanted to know more than Catherine and Brass did. She got up to turn off the TV and get ready to take Emily home.

"No Sara, don't bother. I'll walk," Emily said as she brought her glass to the kitchen.

"No you're not," Sara said. "I'm taking you home."

"I can take care of myself, Sara" Emily said. She walked up to Sara and stood in front of her sister.

"I don't wanna hear it, Emily. You are not walking," Sara said, raising her voice. She wanted Emily to know there was no arguing possible about this.

Emily brushed past Sara and got her coat. "Like I said, I can take care of myself. I have done so for ages, so why change that now?"

"Because you can" By now tears were welling up in Sara's eyes. "For years I thought I was alone in this, for years I hoped there would be someone in this world who would understand. I gave up that hope a long time ago, and then you showed up. I don't want you to feel like that, you are NOT alone," Sara's voice broke as she said the last sentence. "For years I have been crying myself to sleep. I have been playing a role for the rest of the world. I do NOT want you to go through that" Sara almost shouted at Emily, tears of anger running over her cheeks.

Emily just stood there, staring at Sara. She didn't see this coming, and she didn't know how to react.

Sara put on her coat and wiped away the tears in her face. "Just let me take care of you. I don't want to mother you, but I am your sister, and I want to look out for you"

Emily opened the door of the apartment. "You can do that in your own time, Sara. I don't feel like being taken care of right now" And with that she left, leaving a flabbergasted Sara behind.

As Emily walked down the stairs of Sara's apartment building, she felt tears well up in her eyes. She regretted falling out with Sara like that. She couldn't quite figure out why she fell out like she did. She wanted Sara to take care of her, right? So what was the fucking problem?

As she exited the building, she saw Sara standing there, leaning against her truck. Somehow her sister had beat her to it and managed to get downstairs before her.

"There is no running away from me, Emily Sidle," Sara said with a smile.

Emily smiled between her tears and walked towards Sara. The look in her eyes said it all; she was sorry, and Sara knew it.

No words were exchanged, the looks said it all. Emily got in the car, and Sara drove off.

Catherine was sitting in the break room, sipping on her coffee. Brass and Nick were talking to Paul, and Catherine decided to take a break. She had been pulling a double, and her body was giving signs of exhaustion.

She had been comparing the knife to the pictures Doc Robbins made of the wounds on Dana's back. They were a match, and therefore they had found a murder weapon. They had the what and where, now she only had to find out the who and why.

Greg came walking into the break room. As he caught Catherine's eye he smiled.

"I say blood, you say..." he said.

"Greg, I'm not in the mood for games," Catherine replied.

"The blood on the knife is from two donors," Greg said, handing Catherine the results.

"Both female?" Catherine said with surprise.

"Yup." Greg looked around to see if the coast was clear before he leaned closer to Catherine.

"One of the donors is Dana," he sat down next to Catherine and sighed. "I was so free to run the DNA through AFIS. I didn't get a hit, but I did get this," he said as he handed Catherine another paper. "Seven alleles in common with our lovely colleague."

Catherine looked up at Greg. "I think we need to make a phone call," she said pulling out her phone and pressing the speed dial.

"Sidle"

"Is Emily with you?" Catherine asked, not bothering to say hi this time. She was a woman with a mission.

"Erm yes, why?" Sara wondered why Catherine was so interested in Emily today.

"Bring her in," Catherine said.

"Why?"

"We found her blood on the murder weapon," Catherine said, knowing this would upset Sara.

Sara looked over at Emily who was looking at her expectantly.

"We have to go to the Lab, but before we do, you are going to talk to me," Sara said with a harsh tone. She was growing tired of being left in the dark.


	11. Chapter 11

Emily's eyes grew a size; she had no idea what Sara meant.

"Please stop playing with me!" Sara hissed as she made a U-turn on the road. "They found your blood on the murder weapon, care to explain?" Sara was so angry with Emily. So angry that Emily wouldn't share with her, that she had to hear those things from Catherine.

"WHAT?" Emily's didn't even recognize her own voice.

"I'm trying to help you, trying to let you into my life, maybe it's time you start sharing with me Emily, I don't like hearing things like that from my colleagues." Sara said angrily.

"Do you wanna know why I live off campus? Do you wanna know how much my life sucks?" Emily shouted at her sister. She was losing her composure and well she was losing it in general as well.

"I want you to tell me things, how can I help you if you don't tell me anything?" Sara asked. She had calmed down a little; it was just so frustrating that Emily didn't tell her what happened.

"Who says…" Emily was cut off by Sara.

"I say so. You can't face the world alone Emily and you don't have to, not anymore. I am here now."

Sara pulled over and parked the car in some parking lot. She turned towards Emily and put her hand on the younger woman's shoulder.

"Listen, we are in this together, if you want it or not. I want to be there for you, I'm offering my help. I know you are reluctant to take it, but just go with the flow for once." Sara smiled at Emily, hoping her sister would finally listen to her.

"But I don't..." Emily started.

"I don't either Emily, but how will you know if you never try? I'm not good with this either, but I'm willing to try. After all, we are sisters," Sara said. When she heard herself say it, she smiled, they were sisters indeed.

Emily looked at Sara, who gave her a reassuring look. She knew Sara was right and it felt so good to hear Sara say they were sisters; someone wanted to be her family. She didn't quite understand why, but she decided to accept the offer. It was odd that Sara was able to finish her sentences for her, well to cut her off, but it ended up the same. Sara knew just what she meant; maybe it was because Sara felt the same, or just because Sara was so damn smart.

"I like that," was all Emily said. She flashed a faint smile at her sister.

"What?"

"Being your sister," Emily said softly as if it was a very embarrassing thing to say.

Sara laughed, that was just utterly cute. She hugged Emily briefly.

"I like that too," Sara said while releasing Emily "I like that too," she repeated, mostly to herself but Emily heard it anyway and smiled one of those priceless 'Sidle-smiles'.

"But that doesn't mean you get away with this easily. Speak up," Sara said as she pulled out of the parking lot and drove off.

Brass entered the interrogation room with Nick following suit. Paul was already seated with his arms crossed in front of his chest, as if he meant to say 'bring it on'. Brass sighed at the sight of the young man, another one of those annoying students who think they know everything about crime. Those students are getting more and more cocky every year, thinking they are better or superior. Well he was going to show him wrong.

"Paul Johnson," Brass said, trying to use his voice to intimidate the young man. "You, of all people, should know never to lie to the cops."

"Well technically those two aren't cops, they are crime scene investigators," Paul answered triumphantly.

"We don't have time to play games Paul," Nick said. He really hoped Brass wouldn't do something stupid, because he could just feel that the Captain was fuming.

"What were you doing with Emily's clothes?" Nick asked.

"I already told you, I was taking them to the Laundromat," Paul said calmly.

"They were folded, no one takes folded clothes to the Laundromat," Brass said, trying to stay calm.

"Ok, ok. I found out Emily was picked up by the cops, I thought I'd bring her some clothes because she seems to be in trouble."

"Do you know where she is then?" Brass asked, still no believing Paul.

"I figured she would be here," Paul shrugged.

"Good thing we gave you a ride then," Brass said as he leaned on the table. "And now tell us the truth."

"Why did you lie to us about Emily being your girlfriend?" Nick asked.

"To make it seem less suspicious. I was just trying to help her out. She's had a hard time since she got here." Paul says, "After the attack she just changed you know. She was never an open person, but the last while, even a wall showed more emotions."

Nick raised his eyebrow, "What attack?"

"Oh man, she didn't report it?" Paul asked. He was getting a bit nervous and Brass picked up on it.

"If she had, we would know about it, don't you think?" He said, sitting down on his chair. This could get interesting.

"A while ago, Emily was attacked." Paul sighed; he got himself into big trouble now.

"Go on," Brass encouraged the young man. He was proud that Nick and he made that smartass student crack.

"I don't know much about it. One night she came home crying and she bumped into me in the hallway, she had blood all over her shirt. She just fell into my arms, I led her to my room and she cried." Paul looked up, he was turning red again.

"How do you know she was attacked then?" Brass asked.

"She was bleeding, badly," Paul swallowed hard after saying this. Nick got the idea Paul was just hoping Emily was his girlfriend.

"And you didn't do anything about that?" Nick asked. Just when he thought he had figured this guy out, something seemed off, again.

"You have never met Emily Sidle, have you? She will kick your ass if you try to help her," Paul chuckled; he seemed to be replaying a memory in his head "when she moved in, she wouldn't let anyone help her. Jason tried to help her anyway and she punched him in the face."

Nick chuckled, Emily sure sounded like a real Sidle. He could know, he had worked with a Sidle for years now.

"What else happened that night?" Brass was getting curious. Emily being attacked, that could be motive.

"Not much. She cried and I held her, that's it. I remember wondering how she managed to walk to her room by herself; it looked like she had lost quite an amount of blood. I don't know how she did it, but after a day she was up and running like nothing happened." Paul looked up at Nick.

"After a few days I walked up to her to ask how she was, but before I could say something I got one of those precious death glares of her, I knew better than to go there and ask. I guess I feel guilty for not doing more for her, so that's why I wanted to bring the bag." Paul sighed.

"Did anyone else see Emily come in that night?" Brass asked. He believed the guy; it started making sense to him. Things didn't look good for Emily, and if she was the killer, Brass was going to nail her, Sara's sister or not.

Paul shook his head. "It was late; everyone in our house goes to bed quite early. Emily is the owl of our house; she is always the last to come home."

"And how do you know that?"

"I just, well I just kept an eye on her. I don't like to see how people destroy themselves, and she was. She was spiralling down at the speed of light. I guess I just wanted to make sure she was ok. I always waited up until she got home."

"Look, mister," Paul looked at Brass' badge "Erm Captain Brass, unless wanting to take care of a friend is a crime, I have done nothing wrong. I'd like to go now."

"You can go. Thank you for your cooperation." Brass said. He knew he couldn't hold Paul and he didn't see a reason to anyway, plus he had the famous Dean Messing a.k.a. the boyfriend to interrogate later.

"Anytime," Paul said as he shook Brass' hand.

Catherine sighed. She had been staring at the results of the blood test on the knife, but no matter how long she stared, the outcome stayed the same. This was bad news. She finally thought Emily had come clean with them and that she wasn't a suspect anymore, but oh how wrong she had been.

A knock on the door of her office made her look up, the handsome Texan hanging in the doorframe made her smile. Nick was the kind of guy she would never date; he was too innocent and faithful, she'd be afraid to hurt him. Catherine grinned to herself; Nick was no match for the enigmatic, sweet and incredibly sexy Sara Sidle. Catherine never thought she would ever pick a woman over a man, but it had happened. Although pursuing their relationship was in second place right now, Catherine still felt butterflies when she thought of the brunette. Yup, Sara Sidle had captured her heart and that with only two kisses. Very hot, steamy and sexy kisses, but that were just details, details Catherine wanted to keep to herself.

"Nicky boy, how was the talk with our lover boy?" She said, taking off her glasses.

Catherine hated those glasses; they were the sign of her getting old. She remembered Sara's reaction when she first saw her wearing these glasses, she had thought it was a gasp of shock, but now she knew better. But even though Sara seemed to find them sexy, she hated them.

"He gave us some insight on the case, but he is innocent." Nick replied as he closed the door and sat down across the desk from Catherine.

Sara looked at Emily with great expectation; she wanted to know what Emily's explanation was. Having your blood on a murder weapon isn't just bad, it's a fucking disaster.

"Sara, pull over please," Emily said calmly. On the inside she wasn't half as calm as her voice sounded, her heart was pounding in her chest and her throat felt dry.

"Why?" Sara didn't want Emily to come up with another excuse, she wanted her to talk.

"I want to show you something," Emily said. She could hear her voice giving up on this composure game she was trying to play. She didn't want to crack, not now; she was a big girl dammit.

"You can show me while I drive; we are supposed to come in. They found a murder weapon with your blood on it Emily. You better give me a good explanation before we get to the Lab or else you are really on your own." When Sara heard herself say that, and saw Emily cringe, she regretted what she said. Yes, she was getting tired of this game, but she sounded really mean. Normally she only used that tone on suspects.

"Ok," was all Emily said. The sound of Emily's voice gave Sara cold chills to the bone, she felt guilty.

Emily slowly rolled down the turtleneck of her top, revealing her neck. Silent tears ran down her cheeks, this was going to be bad.

Sara looked over at Emily, first at her face. Those eyes, they said it all, this was going to be bad. Sara noticed the tears rolling down Emily's cheek and unconsciously followed them down. When Sara's eye fell on Emily's neck she stepped on the brakes right away. The tyres screeched and the guy in car behind them horned at Sara while he was shouting things she couldn't hear anyway. But that was the least of Sara's concerns right now.

"WHAT THE FUCK! GODDAMMIT MOTHERFUCKER!" Sara shouted out as she pulled over on the side of the road.


	12. Chapter 12

Sara was fuming; she could feel all the anger that was bottled up in her stomach coming up. She wanted to kill the bastard that did this to her sister.

"How did you get that?" she asked. Her voice didn't make it sound like a question; she realized her voice was more of a hiss.

Emily wanted to tell Sara, but her voice didn't seem to be working. She took a deep breath and tried again.

"I was attacked," her voice was a mere whisper, but Sara heard her nonetheless.

"No, no, no," Sara muttered. She had hoped that at least Emily would have been spared during her life when it came to non-family things. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, she felt deeply sorry for Emily, she wanted to hug Emily and tell her everything would be ok, but something held her back.

Emily looked down in embarrassment, she just couldn't face Sara.

"Did you report it?" Sara asked, already knowing the answer. She wouldn't have reported it herself either.

"No," Emily whispered, still looking at her feet.

Sara wanted to tell Emily how stupid she had been for not reporting the attack, but instead she leaned towards her sister and traced the mark on the younger woman's neck with her finger. Emily flinched at her touch but let Sara continue with whatever she was doing.

"It will be a scar," was all Sara said. She was proud that Emily at least went to hospital and got it stitched; she wondered what excuse the young Sidle had made up when she was confronted by the doctor.

"Tell me about the attack," Sara said, taking Emily's hand in hers. "Is that how your blood ended up on the knife?"

Emily looked up at Sara, she had expected her older sister to lash out at her, to tell her off or at least shout at her for being stupid. But she hadn't done that; instead she was being supportive, which gave Emily some courage.

"One night I went over to Dana's place because I forgot one of my books, she was erm kind of busy with Dean. Instead of just giving me the book, she kicked Dean out and let me in. I still don't know why she did that actually. When I went home about an hour later, Dean and his friends stopped me when I was walking through the park. Dean was carrying a knife and he threatened me with it. He said that if I'd ever come near Dana again he'd ruin my semi-pretty face," Emily snorted "He gave me way too much credit with that remark."

Sara sighed deeply, but didn't say anything. Instead she looked at Emily, motioning her to continue.

"One of his friends, Bart, thought it would be funny to push Dean towards me. They all found it very funny, until they saw me bleed."

Sara raised her eyebrow at Emily; she withdrew her hand and sped off.

"You are on your own now Emily," she said angrily.

Emily sighed; she couldn't tell Sara the whole truth. Why couldn't Sara just understand?

"Sara," Emily said with a breaking voice.

"No, Emily. I'm tired of your lies," Sara cut her off before she could say anything else.

"Ok, it was Dean who did this, it was on purpose," Emily shouted at Sara "But I just know Dean didn't kill Dana!"

"So you just cover for him?" Sara said angrily as she looked at Emily "Do you know you are only incriminating yourself with this?"

"Dean isn't that bad, he..." Emily started.

"He cut you in the neck with a knife Emily! He should be locked up for that!" Sara really didn't understand why Emily was protecting someone who had hurt her like that. "He cut you deep; he left a scar on you forever! Do you realise that? You are not some sort of super human; you will carry this with you for the rest of your life!"

Sara was clearly losing her patience, but as she did, she also realised that she wasn't very different from Emily. She thought of Catherine, who must have a lot of patience with her; she knew that she could be a pain in the ass, just like Emily was being right now.

Sara pulled over at the Lab, Emily was moving to get out but Sara put her hand on Emily's arm.

"Wait," she said.

Emily looked at Sara expectantly.

"You are going in now and you are going to tell them the truth, no more lying, no more being embarrassed ok? You are the victim here, don't turn yourself into the suspect," Sara hoped Emily would listen.

"Will you come with me?" Emily asked, looking at Sara with puppy eyes.

"No," Sara said firmly. "I have some things to arrange with my boss. But I will be there when you are done. Catherine will be nice to you ok?"

"Ok," Emily said softly. So this was how Sara was punishing her? Or what was this supposed to mean? Maybe Sara really did have things to arrange with her boss.

Catherine was waiting in her office for Sara and Emily to arrive; she was impatiently tapping her fingers on her desk. She had been trying to think of theories on how Emily's blood got on the murder weapon, she realised she was trying to find a way in which Emily wasn't the bad guy, or girl in this case.

"Hey you," she heard Sara's voice say after a short knock on her door.

Catherine looked up with a bright smile at the beautiful woman standing in her doorway.

"Hey," she said back.

Sara entered Catherine's office and closed the door behind her.

"I have a little problem," Sara said in a husky voice.

"And what is that?" Catherine replied, although it sounded more like a purr.

"My lips ache," Sara said while leaning forward, "from missing yours," she continued in a low whisper.

Catherine gasped. She didn't get a chance to reply because Sara's lips were pressed on hers. Catherine felt herself get all warm inside as she felt Sara's tongue tracing her bottom lip. God, this woman was the most amazing kisser!

A knock on the door disturbed the two ladies and caused them both to groan.

"Come in," Catherine said as she motioned Sara to sit down in one of the chairs.

"Catherine, Emily is here," it was Nick. "Oh hi Sara," The Texan said with a smile when he spotted his colleague.

Sara smiled and nodded at Nick, she had the feeling she was blushing like a little child who just got caught doing something naughty.

"I will be there in a second, I'm just finishing up here," Catherine said.

"Ok, I will tell Brass and get Emily to the interrogation room," Nick replied as he left.

Catherine looked at Sara, whose eyes had turned from sparkling and showing want to beaten and showing sadness.

"Did she explain to you?" Catherine said as she walked over to Sara.

The brunette got up from her chair and Catherine took her in her arms.

"Make sure to check her neck, Catherine. I'm not sure if she will tell you the truth. She is protecting someone."

Catherine sighed and squeezed Sara tight.

"Oh baby, I'm really sorry," she said as she stroked Sara's hair.

"She is so," Sara sighed, "She is so much like how I was, she thinks she can do this on her own, she won't tell me anything unless I get mad at her. I know she needs me, but she just keeps pushing me away."

Catherine was almost startled with Sara's openness; it felt good though, having Sara open up to her. She could get used to this, their bodies just fitted together and well Sara was just very huggable.

"Keep pushing her Sara, she will come around," Catherine said as she pulled back and cupped Sara's face with her hand. Sara put her hands on Catherine's waist.

"Thank you Cath," Sara said.

Catherine smiled at Sara and planted a sweet kiss on the younger woman's lips.

"Anytime baby," she said, moving a strand of hair behind Sara's ear. "I have to go now,"

"Good luck," Sara said as she smiled.

When Catherine entered the interrogation room, she noticed she was just in time. Nick was shifting in his chair and Jim Brass was already sending Emily death glares. If looks could kill then Sara wouldn't have a younger sister anymore, Brass looked so angry.

"Catherine," the Captain said, nodding towards her as she came in.

Catherine sat down across the table from Emily and looked at the younger Sidle. Sara had learned to hide away some of her emotions, clearly Emily didn't have that quite under control yet. Emily was obviously very nervous and scared.

"Well, well, Miss Sidle, we meet again huh?" Brass said as he crossed his arms.

Catherine glared at Brass before she directed herself to Emily.

"Emily, can you explain to us why we found your blood on the murder weapon?" She said.

The blue eyes of the CSI sitting in front of her seemed to pierce all the way through Emily. She could almost feel the stare in the back of her head, that woman was good.

Emily took a deep breath to answer but was cut off by Brass.

"Before you ask us how we know, this is all thanks to your lovely sister, who is in the system because of her profession." He crossed his arms as if he meant to say '1 for Brass, 0 for Emily'.

"Listen Mr. Brass, I know I have been a pain but I would like to come clean now." Emily said, trying to stay calm. Calm, how do you spell that word again? Emily felt herself shake and wondered if the concept of 'calm' was slowly disappearing from her dictionary.

"About time," Brass sighed sarcastically.

Sara decided to get some coffee in the break room. Her life had changed drastically in the past 48 hours and she wasn't even able to stand still and process the changes. She was very happy to have found Emily, there were so many things she still wanted to teach her younger sister and so many things she wanted to do.

Even though the situation wasn't very hopeful, Sara hoped all this would cause minimal damage to her sister. She wanted Emily to be happy and not have to live her life like she had done herself. Everyone on this planet who says the worst feeling in the world is anything else than feeling lonely, is so wrong. She hoped to prevent Emily from ever feeling lonely again.

"Oh my God, I can't believe my eyes," a very optimistic voice said, causing her to wake from her reverie.

"Hey Greg," She said, slashing him a faint smile.

"How are you Sara? Want some of my special coffee?" Greg said with a grin as he poured some coffee for himself.

"I would never pass on that Greggo," Sara said, eagerly taking the cup of coffee from him.

"How is your little sister?" Greg said after taking a sip of his coffee.

"She's being interrogated right now," Sara sighed as she plumped down on the couch.

"I have a younger sister, so I know how you feel." Greg said as he sat down next to Sara.

Sara looked up and raised her eyebrow.

"They are so damn annoying but still you can't help but wanting to protect them from the big bad world," Greg said with a smile.

Oh yeah, Greg was so very right.

"Does your sister lie to cops?" Sara said.

"I don't know, but she did lie to my parents, and back in the day, they were as bad as cops," Greg grinned.

Sara couldn't help but laugh. For some reason Greg always knew how to cheer her up.

"Don't worry Sara, everything will work out. I'm sure Emily didn't kill that girl, even though the evidence isn't implying it, I just don't think she did it."

Sara's face seemed to light up, Greg didn't know half how much she wanted to hear that.

"Thanks Greg," she said before getting up and walking towards the interrogation room

"Knock 'em dead Emily," she mumbled to no one in particular.


	13. Chapter 13

Nick, Catherine and Brass had been listening to Emily talk for 15 minutes straight and no one had said a word, except for the young Sidle.

Catherine's mouth seemed to fall open a little more after every sentence. She couldn't believe the anguish this young woman had been through, it must be some curse of being a Sidle. She had thought up some gruesome theories on how Emily's blood ended up on the murder weapon, but even with her brilliant mind she couldn't have made this up.

Tears were streaming down Emily's face as she told everything to the Captain and the two CSI's. She wanted Sara to be proud of her; she didn't want Sara to think she was a liar.

Brass had send Nick out of the room to check up on Emily's story. If everything she had told them was true, than he had been awfully wrong. He started feeling worse by the second. He had been a horribly bad cop towards the younger woman, and once again he heard Gil Grissom's wise words replay through his head 'listen to the evidence'. That guy's remarks, haiku's and other semi-smart sayings might have been annoying, but they were also very true.

"Emily, do you want to take a break? Do you want me to get some water?" Catherine asked. She didn't know what else to say.

"No thank you, I'm fine," Emily said. Her voice sounded weird, as if it was detached from the rest of her being. Since when did she become a robot of some sort?

Catherine really wanted to hug Emily, the young, self-confident woman who had stepped into the interrogation room turned into a shrunken version of what she used to be in no time. When she had seen Emily before they started talking, she was just like Sara, just radiating that cocky kind of self-esteem. But also just like Sara, Emily Sidle wasn't as confident as she seemed to be.

After 10 minutes, Nick returned to the room.

"The hospital confirmed, they are faxing her stats over ASAP," he said.

"Can I go now?" Emily asked. The question wasn't directed to anyone specific but three pairs of eyes were directed at her.

"Yes, you can go. Thank you for helping us Emily," Brass said, to everyone's surprise.

Emily flashed a faint smile at Brass and slowly got up.

"I will take you to Sara," Catherine said as she got up with Emily.

"No, I'm fine. I don't want to cause her any more trouble," Emily replied, waving Catherine's offer away.

As Emily left the interrogation room, Catherine followed her. Catherine almost had to run after the young Sidle, just as her sister she was pacing as if she needed to catch the next train.

"Emily," Catherine said as she grasped the girl's arm.

Emily turned around but refused to face the blonde woman in front of her.

"If you don't want to cause Sara any more trouble than don't make her worry about you, don't run," Catherine said, slightly panting from the sprint she just took to catch up with Emily, "please?" Catherine added to intensify her request.

Brass was waiting in the interrogation room, together with the already notorious Dean Messing. He was about to pull this young man over the table by his collar and talk some sense into him, but that was mostly his guilt talking. He really had treated Emily badly.

Nick entered the room and it almost seemed as if Dean suddenly relaxed. A smile appeared on his face and he comfortably sat back in his chair.

"Nick Stokes, this is Dean Messing and his lawyer Howard Messing," Brass introduced the people in the room with him to each other.

Howard Messing got up and shook Nick's hand, "Howard Messing, I'm also the father."

Nick could have sworn he heard Brass mumble 'oh brother' but his ears could have fooled him.

"Dean Messing," Brass started, "How nice of you to join us."

"It is my pleasure Captain," Dean answered.

"Do you know this woman?" Nick asked as he showed him a picture of Emily.

Dean chuckled. "Yes, I know her. Cinnamon Girl."

"And does Cinnamon Girl have a real name?" Brass asked impatiently.

"Oh I don't know, Emily something….I have no idea, not that it is of interest really," Dean said uninterestedly.

"And why wouldn't that be of interest?" Nick asked.

"First of all, you have arrested her for the murder of my girlfriend, so you probably already know her name. Second, she is of no importance,"

Brass was fuming, this smug kid, how did he think he'd have the right to be such an asshole.

"So you don't think it's important to remember the name of the girl you attacked?" Nick asked harshly.

He felt deeply sorry for Emily and for Sara. He just couldn't believe people still treated each other like that at university, he thought they had grown up by that time, but obviously he was wrong.

"WHAT?" Dean's voice rose as he got up from his chair.

"I don't like the implications you are making Mr. Stokes," Howard Messing said. "We came here to talk to you, to tell you what we know. If Dean is a suspect then I would like to know now because then the cooperation is over."

Nick said nothing, which caused Howard to look at Brass, who shook his head.

"Ok, well then, come on son," Howard said as he got up. "Any questions for Dean will have to be directed to me."

Howard Messing followed Dean out of the room. Dean couldn't resist but to flash Brass one last smug smile before leaving.

"Don't you just hate it when parents play lawyer for their kids?" Brass said to Nick, it wasn't really a question because they both knew the answer already.

"Smugness runs in the family," Nick snorted.

"Find me some evidence Nick. I want to close this case," Brass said before leaving as well.

Sara was nervously pacing down the hall; she had been waiting for God knows how long and no one had shown up yet. She was wondering what was going on. Just as she was about to call Catherine, she saw her now lover walking in the hallway, almost pushing Emily ahead of her.

Catherine almost had to push Emily. She didn't understand why Emily didn't want to be around Sara, hell she would want to be around Sara. But then again, she was very biased at the moment.

Sara smiled as she spotted Catherine. The blonde caught her smile and flashed her one of those perfect 'Willows' smiles back.

"I'm going to the toilet," Emily said as soon as she spotted Sara. She didn't want to be around Sara right now, but she couldn't figure out why. Sometimes her feelings were so unpredictable and weird, but then again, she was human.

"Where did she run off to?" Sara asked Catherine, who was now standing next to her.

Sara suddenly felt warm inside now Catherine was moving closer to her. She felt her breath hitch and she felt like she was turning red.

"Toilet," Catherine said. Catherine picked up on Sara's reaction to her and smiled. She motioned Sara to come with her to her office.

As soon as the door of Catherine's office closed, lips clashed together and hands started groping. No words needed to be exchanged, the kiss said it all.

Catherine wondered why she hadn't given into the need of kissing Sara years before; she wondered how she managed without these kisses for so long.

Sara didn't want to part from Catherine's lips but she had no choice, if she wanted to stay alive for the next kiss that was. Sara didn't want to open her eyes, afraid she was still dreaming. Even after a couple of kisses she was still unsure of what she meant to Catherine. They didn't really have the time to talk about the situation because of Emily.

"Baby, you can open your eyes now," Catherine said with a smile of adoration on her face. Sara looked so beautiful.

Sara wondered if Catherine had found her 'instant silliness' button, because she felt so silly, so inexperienced. She wondered why the hell Catherine had picked her out of all people.

"Erm.." Sara stumbled, "wanna, like, grab a beer after shift?"

Catherine chuckled, that was so cute. Sara was so cute.

"Is it a date?" Catherine said to tease Sara, who was turning red as a tomato.

Before Sara could answer there was a knock on the door, both women groaned and looked at the door.

"Come in," Catherine said, taking a step back from Sara.

The door slowly opened and Emily appeared in the doorway, she looked down to avoid Sara's stare.

"Hey," Catherine said with a soft voice. She wanted to try to make Emily feel as comfortable as possible, especially after what had happened a little earlier.

Sara wondered what was going on; Catherine was overly nice to Emily, but why?

"I will leave you two alone for a bit," Catherine said as she softly squeezed Sara's hand.

Sara smiled at Catherine, but actually felt far from smiling. How can the way you feel change so fast? She went from giddy nervous to plain nervous in no time.

Catherine put her hand on Emily's shoulder before she left; she gently squeezed to reassure the young Sidle that it would be ok.

As soon as Catherine closed the door Emily looked up at Sara, who gave her a questioning look.

Before she even realised it, Emily was in her arms. She wrapped her arms around her younger sister. As soon as Sara did that, Emily burst into tears.

"It's ok," Sara whispered while she rubbed Emily's back.

"I told them," Emily sobbed.

Sara smiled and kissed the top of Emily's head. "Things will be ok," she said.


	14. Chapter 14

Catherine sat at the bar with a beer, Sara was running a little late but that was ok. Emily had totally broken down and needed Sara; it was a miracle Sara didn't cancel on them, that must be a very good sign. Just as Catherine was scanning the bar, she saw a certain sexy brunette walk in, her sexy brunette.

"Hey," Sara said as she slid on the barstool next to Catherine.

"Hey yourself," Catherine said as she checked out Sara thoroughly, although if she had seen someone else do that, she would have called it shamelessly.

A few beers later, they were having an animated conversation about everything and nothing. Catherine had scooted closer to Sara as time went by and was now resting her hand on the brunette's thigh.

Catherine found herself only half paying attention to what Sara was saying, most of her attention went to the patterns she was making on Sara's thigh. She felt like a teenager, she couldn't really remember the last time she had felt like this. The excitement that came with the feeling was making her feel giddy and silly. She was truly enjoying Sara's company and she was truly enjoying the 'out of work' Sara.

Emily was sitting on the couch in Sara's living room. She was bored, she never had liked watching TV and there wasn't much else to do in Sara's house so she decided to explore the apartment a bit.

Just as Emily was browsing through her sister's kitchen her phone rang, she wondered who would call her. Dana was always the only one to call her.

"Hello,"

"You fucking bitch, why did you rat me out?" the voice on the other side of the line said.

"Because you are an asshole," Emily said stoically.

"They think I killed her," the voice hissed, "They think I killed Dana," the voice seemed to hitch because of a sob, but it could also be pure anger, Emily wasn't sure.

"Look, if you didn't do it, you have nothing to worry about," Emily said, feeling sorry for her classmate.

"Fuck you bitch. You know damn well I'm going to jail anyway!" the voice screamed.

"Dean!" Emily shouted back.

"You gotta tell them Emily, you gotta tell them I didn't do it," Dean's voice sounded more desperate than angry now.

"Now why would I do that? Give me one good reason," Emily calmly replied.

"You are a fucking ice queen you know that!"

Silent tears fell down Emily's cheeks, but she managed to keep her voice collected.

"What do you want Dean?" she asked.

"Tell them I didn't do it, I didn't kill Dana, you fucking know it!"

"And why do you think they will believe me? I'm a suspect myself," Emily replied, it amazed her she maintained her calmness like she did.

"Oh come on! Sweet, innocent, too intelligent for herself Cinnamon Girl?" Dean said mockingly.

Emily said nothing, there was only one person who was allowed to call her that, and it was certainly not Dean.

"You are a fucking freak you know that?" Dean said before hanging up.

Emily sank to the floor and started sobbing. What had she done to be treated like this? Why wasn't there anyone in the world treating her nicely? Well anyone apart from Sara, but that was only because they were sisters.

Warrick walked into the Las Vegas Crime Lab with a big smile, he had missed his work. Even though he had earned his days off and got to spend them with Tina, he had missed his colleagues and the high some cases could bring him on.

Nick was the first one to spot him as he walked into the break room.

"Hey man! How was your time off?" The Texan said with a smile.

"Good, am all rested now. Did anything happen here?"

"Are you kidding me? The whole Lab has been turned upside down!" Greg said enthusiastically when he entered the break room after Warrick.

Warrick raised his eyebrow at Greg and turned to Nick for a more understandable explanation.

"A lot happened," Nick started "Sara and Catherine were working on a homicide at the university, they found one of the students at the crime scene," before Nick could continue, Greg enthusiastically cut in.

"That girl is Sara's sister! And she is a suspect! So Sara got pulled off the case and Nick and I are helping her now. We have two suspects, the boyfriend and Emily, that's Sara's sister, and they are both not talking, both Criminal Justice majors."

Warrick's eyes widened. "Are you kidding me? Sara has a sister?"

"She didn't even know that herself until they picked up the girl at the crime scene," Nick added.

"Man that definitely is more exciting than my time off!" Warrick said, regretting that he had to miss out on all this. "Where is Sara?"

"She is not in," Greg said.

Again Warrick's eyes widened, "Sara's not in? Where is she?"

The question made both Nick and Greg realise they had no idea where Sara was, nor where Catherine was for that matter.

"I don't know," Greg said again.

"Me neither," Nick added.

Warrick shook his head and left the break room to see Grissom and get assigned a case.

Emily still sat in the same position; her back started hurting from her uncomfortable position so she had no choice but to get up. She stretched herself, hoping the pain in her back would go away. She splashed some water in her face and continued her exploration of Sara's apartment.

Sara's kitchen was pretty much the same as hers, empty. She figured Sara lived on take out and eating out as well. She opened the cabinets to find something eatable even though she knew it would probably be a hopeless cause.

"Ooh goody, bad eggs with sour milk, yum," she mumbled to herself sarcastically.

Emily decided to clean out Sara's kitchen, it might not be much but she was sure Sara wouldn't like flies in her house. As Emily opened the cabinet beneath the sink she whistled between her teeth.

"You don't say," she said as she traced the bottles with her finger.

It was all there, whiskey, bourbon, Bailey's. The Bailey's was a little out of place, but made Emily smile anyway. The younger Sidle got the bottle out of the cabinet and poured herself a glass.

"You gotta love the Irish," she mumbled to herself as she felt the warm liquid burn in her throat.

She took the bottle with her on her exploration of the rest of the apartment. The living room was next. Emily stood in the middle of the room; first checking out the CD's, her sister had taste.

There weren't many pictures in the room, but the ones that were there were only of Sara alone, Sara with a snowboard, Sara with a backpack and Sara with a camera around her neck. All very touristy. Emily started wondering if Sara had friends at all, apart from her colleagues. As she was looking at the pictures, Emily took a big sip of the Bailey's, straight from the bottle.

Silent tears ran down Emily's face. "Where were you all those years?" she softly asked the Sara in the picture.

Emily reached for her phone and dialled the number she last received a call from.

"Yes?" Dean's voice said.

"Dean, it's me," Emily said. Her voice didn't sound like it was hers; could she be tipsy from just a couple of sips of Bailey's? Man, she was such a wuss!

"What do you want?" Dean replied harshly.

"You know where my room is right?"

"Yeah," Dean chuckled, "Geek House."

"Could you get something from my room for me?" Emily knew it was a long shot, but she didn't have anyone else to call.

"And why would I do that?"

"You have no reason really," Emily replied. She hoped Dean would fall for it, there was no way she was going to do that bastard a favour.

"Fuck….you know what, give me your address, I'll do it," Dean said.

Emily gave him the address and told him what she needed, she couldn't go much longer without her medication and she could feel it.

A knock on the door startled Emily from her alcoholic daze. Did she really drink that whole bottle? Wheeew since when does a Bailey's bottle contain that much Bailey's? The knocks on the door became louder and turned into banging.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" Emily shouted.

Emily opened the door to a quite pissed off Dean, who was holding a plastic bag.

"About time," the guy said impatiently.

"Sorry, blame the Irish. Thanks," Emily said as she took the bag from Dean.

"Hey, are you ok?" Dean asked when he saw Emily in the state she was in.

"Just peachy," Emily said before slamming the door into Dean's face.

"Moron," she mumbled as she walked back to the couch.

Catherine decided to take a chance and follow Sara inside. They had had a great night together and Catherine wanted to seal it with a great kiss.

"You take bringing someone to their doorstep very serious don't you?" Sara said mockingly.

"I'm just claiming what is mine," Catherine said in a husky voice.

"Oh, and what is that?" Sara said, noticing the change in Catherine's voice. That voice turned her on.

"My goodnight kiss," Catherine said.

Just when Catherine moved in to kiss Sara, the elevator arrived. Sara took that as a cue to avoid the kiss and get in the elevator, she didn't want to be too easy. She laughed at the slight groan Catherine let out.

Catherine followed Sara into the elevator and as soon as the doors closed she pushed Sara against the wall and kissed her hard. The sound Sara made was incredibly sexy; it was a mix of a yelp and a moan which Catherine took as a cue to yank Sara's top out of her slacks and put her hands on Sara's hot skin.

"Cath," Sara half said, half moaned.

Catherine moved her kisses to Sara's neck, but Sara pushed her away. When she looked up at Sara with surprise, Sara could see the hurt flash through the blonde woman's eyes.

"My door," Sara said, trying to undo the hurt she just inflicted on Catherine.

Catherine looked over her shoulder to see what Sara meant. Sara's front door was open, that was never a good sign.


	15. Chapter 15

"Emily," Sara whispered.

Catherine looked at Sara and motioned her to follow; she walked towards the door and listened.

"I think there is no one there anymore," Catherine whispered, "We should call Brass."

Sara didn't listen to Catherine and barged into her apartment. She heard Catherine call out of her but right now she just had to find Emily. If someone had hurt her, she was going to haunt them for life.

Catherine sighed; she probably had done the same as Sara even though it was incredibly stupid. She followed Sara inside and looked around, the place looked clean and untouched, maybe Emily just forgot to close the door.

Sara was searching feverishly for her sister, she checked the kitchen, but Emily wasn't there. The living room was empty, the chances of Emily still being here were getting smaller and Sara's hope started sinking.

"No," she whispered to herself.

"Sara!" Catherine called out from the bedroom.

Sara didn't know how fast to get to the bedroom to see what Catherine had found. On the one hand she was really glad she saw Emily there, but on the other, Emily seemed unconscious.

"She is sleeping Sara," Catherine said as she felt Emily's pulse.

Sara looked around her bedroom, nothing was touched. Suddenly Sara felt really angry and turned on the big light in the room, how could Emily be so irresponsible?

"Oh God Sara," Catherine said as the room was lit. Catherine gasped as she saw the wounds on Emily.

Emily had a black eye and several scratches on her face. She had a cut on her forehead which had been bleeding badly but the blood was all dried up now.

"No," Sara said softly.

Catherine tried waking Emily up. "Sara, get a washing cloth for me please, we need to keep this black eye cool. Do you have an ice pack?"

When Catherine moved closer to Emily she could smell alcohol in Emily's breath and she sighed. "God girl, what have you done to yourself?" she whispered to a stirring Emily.

"Wake up Emily," Catherine said, gently shaking Emily.

Sara entered the bathroom and gasped at what she saw. On the mirror someone wrote 'Cinnamon Girl' in blood. Sara hated herself for the fact she didn't know if it was Emily's handwriting, she had no idea what Emily's handwriting was like.

"Cath!" She yelled, hoping Catherine would come quickly and make all the bad things disappear.

Catherine rushed to the bathroom where she had heard Sara's yell come from. The things she found there shocked her, who would do such a thing? And how did they know Emily was here?

Sara looked at Catherine with fear in her eyes. Someone had been in her house, someone had invaded her privacy.

As they stood there looking at each other, they heard a thud from the bedroom, followed by a loud groan.

Sara rushed to the bedroom to see what was going on. Emily had fallen from the bed and was now trying to get up, she was clearly disoriented. 'Whoa, and drunk!' Sara's mind added when she came closer to Emily and smelled the alcohol. Sara sighed, she had gotten rid of her problem and now Emily was feeding off it.

Sara supported Emily and put her back on the bed. Catherine came out of the bathroom with a damp cloth and put it on Emily's forehead, cleaning the dried blood.

"I called Grissom, he is on his way with Brass," Catherine said.

Sara mouthed a 'thank you' to Catherine before kissing her cheek. Why was it that they got disturbed every time things were starting to get good? Sara didn't know the answer to that, but she promised herself that it was going to get good sometime very soon.

"Sara, can you get an ice pack?" Catherine said, wanting some alone time with Emily.

Sara nodded and went to the kitchen. She also made some coffee for everyone; she knew at least Catherine and her could use one.

"Emily, can you hear me?" Catherine said while gently cleaning her face.

"What's with the loud music?" Emily groaned.

"You are drunk Emily, what happened here?" Catherine didn't know whether to be worried or angry.

"I had a little party with the Irish," Emily smiled. She wanted to sit up, but found very soon that it wasn't such a good idea. A wave of nausea hit her and made her fall back onto the bed.

"Lay back Emily, you are hurt," Catherine said as she pushed Emily back into the pillow.

"My medication," Emily said.

"There is no way you are taking any medication, first you have to sober up," Catherine said in her motherly tone.

"Why did you drink Emily?" Catherine asked.

"Have you ever tried Bailey's? Damn it's just so good, how could I know there was so much Bailey's in one bottle?"

Sara was leaning against the sink; this was getting worse and worse. What if Emily was just like her? What if Emily wouldn't be able to control it and ended up being an alcoholic? What if she wasn't able to help Emily?

Sara thought she knew what failing felt like, but she was wrong, she had felt failing, but never as strong as this. She felt like she was being absorbed by some black hole that just kept sucking her in, no matter how hard she ran or screamed. Did Catherine feel like this with Lindsay? Was this what it feels like to be a mother? Maybe it would even be worse since Emily wasn't even her daughter.

Sara's musings were disturbed by a hand on her shoulder, it was Grissom. Apparently he had called her name a few times already.

"Sara, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just going to check on Emily now," she made a beeline for her bedroom, trying to avoid any kind of conversation with the man that used to be of interest to her.

Catherine was standing in the living room with Brass; he was asking her some questions. She gave Sara a concerned look as she walked by.

As Sara entered her bedroom with an ice pack she saw Emily sitting on the bed, flashing a big smile at her, a fake big smile.

"Hey sis," Emily said.

"Don't you hey sis me!" Sara said angrily, "when they leave, you and I have a lot to talk about!"

Emily sighed, "Whatever."

Sara threw the ice pack on the bed. "Listen you..you, you are drunk, you are hurt, you are in no position to talk now. You just stay here, put that ice pack on your stupid excuse for a head and do not cause any more trouble." With that Sara walked out of the room and joined Catherine and Brass in the living room.

"Oh boy, I've done it now," Emily groaned as she put the ice pack on the cut on her forehead.

She lay back on the bed and sighed. She hadn't meant to do this to Sara; she never meant to invade her life and privacy like this. But to be really honest, she had never been happier in her life, even though this situation should be listed in the dictionary under 'fucked up'. She had a sister, a sister who was smart, independent and who cared about her, it just sucked that the rest of the world didn't care.

Greg was working in the DNA lab when Warrick came in being his cool and collected self.

"Hey bruva," Greg said, trying out his best 'black' accent.

Warrick chuckled, "I'm not your brother Greg."

"Awww man! I'm dying here!" Greg said holding his hands on his heart in the most theatrical way possible.

"Greg, did you test the note Cath and Sara found on the crime scene?"

"Fo shizzle," Greg said causing Warrick to laugh out loud.

"Greg, want some advice from a real ladies' man?" he said to his young colleague.

"Yeah," Greg said, looking at Warrick as if he was about to say the most important thing ever.

"Don't, and I repeat, don't EVER do that again," Warrick snorted.

Greg sighed and handed Warrick the results. Warrick looked at the paper and raised his eyebrows.

"I'm full of surprises aren't I?" Greg said looking over Warrick's shoulder.

"You and every other university student," Warrick teased.

"Students do it better Warrick, students do it better."

"I think you and me need to call Brass and let this guy get picked up," Warrick said. He smiled at Greg's enthusiasm; being new in the world of CSI he still liked every job that had become a routine for Warrick.

"I will check the fingerprints in the Lab and call you as soon as I get the results," Grissom told Sara. He was worried about his protégé, she looked like a ghost.

"Thanks," Sara replied, opening the door for Grissom.

"And Sara,"

"Yes?"

"Keep an eye on your sister, she needs help." With that Grissom walked away leaving an astounded Sara behind.

"Yeah, he does that to me too," Catherine snorted as she saw Sara's reaction.

"Where does he get that from?"

"Hey baby, I really have to go, I'd like to catch some sleep before Lindsay wakes up," Catherine said as she wrapped her arms around Sara's slender waist.

"Ok," Sara wasn't ok with that at all, she wanted Catherine to stay, but she knew she couldn't ask that from the blonde.

Catherine gently kissed Sara's lips. What was supposed to be a sweet goodbye kiss, turned into a heated kiss as Sara put her hand on Catherine's head so she couldn't pull back.

"Hmmmm," Catherine purred as Sara finally let her go.

Catherine pressed her lips against Sara's forehead and stepped back, holding her new lover's hand.

"Goodnight baby," she said while still holding Sara's hand.

"Goodnight. Say hi to Lindsay from me," Sara said as she smiled at the object of her affection.

"I will, I'll see you tomorrow," the blonde replied while opening the door.

Sara closed the door behind Catherine and leaned against it. She sighed and looked at the ceiling. 'Ok, let's do this', she encouraged herself before walking to the bedroom to find her younger sister.


	16. Chapter 16

When Sara walked into her room, she found Emily sleeping on her bed. Her younger sister was snoring a little and had spread herself over the whole bed.

"Great," Sara mumbled.

She turned around and decided to let Emily sleep off whatever daze she was on. She went straight to the kitchen and threw away all the bottles of alcohol she could find.

"No more alcohol in this house," she mumbled to herself.

A couple of hours later Sara had done the groceries and cleaned the apartment, she was just finishing up cleaning the kitchen when a very groggy Emily walked in.

"Ah, so you are still alive," Sara said in a less than pleasant tone.

"Hmpf," was all Emily managed to 'say'.

"Sit down," Sara ordered. She didn't know what to do, she wanted to be angry at Emily, scream at her, tell her how irresponsible she was and how she could get addicted to alcohol. But she figured Emily already knew that. She had to find a different approach to get Emily talking.

Emily just stared at Sara. She felt so bad, she knew Sara would never believe the truth, but unfortunately it was the only thing she had to offer. She was growing tired of trying to be the perfect sister; she wanted Sara to love her, even though she knew that would never happen. Emily Sidle was not a loveable person, and with all the lying and evading she got confused herself, she was forgetting who she really was.

"Talk," Sara said. She was surprised by her own harsh order, but it did seem to work, Emily seemed to be getting ready to explain everything.

Emily knew better than to avoid the question, which wasn't really a question. She took a deep breath and started talking.

"I called Dean," she said.

Sara's breath hitched, that cocky bastard, she took a deep breath and was about to lash out at her younger sister, when she continued talking.

"I didn't have my medication here and I asked him to bring it over. He didn't want to at first, but I managed to convince him and he came over."

Sara's eyes grew wider, but she didn't interrupt Emily.

"He is a good guy Sara, I knew what I was doing," Emily sighed, "it wasn't him who did this," she said pointing at her face.

"He came over, brought my medication and I offered him a drink. He really is a good guy, you know." Emily said.

"Emily, who did this to you? I'm tired of you not telling me things right away, how hard is it to say who did this to you? Why do you keep protecting the people that hurt you?" Sara really didn't understand.

When Emily didn't reply, Sara crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Who did this to you?" she asked in a harsh tone.

Emily seemed to think for a while. "I…I don't know," she stumbled.

"Tell me, NOW," Sara was obviously losing patience with Emily.

A tear ran down Emily's cheek, making Sara feel guilty for lashing out at her like she did.

Sara put her hand on Emily's shoulder, "I'm sorry, I'm just really frustrated. I want to know who did this to you, they should be punished. Just like Dean should be punished for what he did to you. Why do you keep protecting them?"

"You wouldn't understand," Emily mumbled in between sobs.

"Then help me understand Emily, I'm your sister, I want to understand."

"I'm protecting Dean because I know he is innocent. He is a good guy and I don't want him to go to jail," Emily sighed, "after all he did come over to bring my medication."

"Dean hurt you; he should be punished for that," Sara didn't understand why her sister just wouldn't admit that.

"Don't you think he has been punished enough? His girlfriend was murdered remember?"

"You know who did it, don't you?" Sara said, it seemed like the pieces where finally coming together.

"I figured it out yesterday," Emily said, looking down at her feet.

"How?" Sara didn't know whether to be proud or mad.

"It's kinda the reason why I look like a truck ran over me," Emily said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Ok, enough with the evading and avoiding, tell me the truth now Emily."

"It was Paul," Emily sighed. She had hoped she'd find out in another way, she hadn't planned on getting beaten up like this.

"Paul?"

"Yeah, your girlfriend knows more about him, she met him while he was stealing my clothes," Emily said with a sweet smile.

Sara heard the word 'girlfriend' and turned beet red. It took a while for the rest of the sentence to sink in; she just seemed to be stuck at 'girlfriend'.

"Don't worry about it; I can see she really cares about you. I want you to be happy," Emily said.

Sara didn't reply. This time she did hear every word Emily said, she just didn't know what to say. Emily could see Catherine cared about her? Was it that obvious? Why hadn't she seen it before?

"Sara?" Emily asked.

Sara looked up at her younger sister, who now stood next to her smiling.

"Can I get a hug now?" Emily asked.

Sara smiled at Emily and opened her arms. The slightly taller Emily just seemed to sink into her as soon as she did that.

"It's going to be ok Emily," Sara said as she felt Emily's tears on her neck. "We will get Paul, he won't hurt you anymore."

Suddenly Emily seemed to crack. She started talking and didn't stop until she told Sara everything she knew. Sara just kept holding her sister while she was talking, it felt good, it felt great to have a sister, to have family. Sara was going to do everything to make sure Emily would become happy again.

"I promise you Emily, everything is going to be ok. Just let me take care of you, I'll make sure everything is going to be fine." Sara said while stroking her sister's hair. She truly meant every word she said, even though for her it sounded weird coming from her mouth.

"I know you will," Emily said as she calmed down. She truly believed the words Sara said, and for the first time in her life she was willing to let someone take care of her. She could see for herself that she couldn't deal with this alone.

"So, Mister Johnson, so nice to finally have you here," Brass said while looking at the smug boy sitting across the table from him.

"I'm glad to be here Mister Brass," Paul answered.

Warrick was amazed by the coolness of this young man, it seemed as if he either had no clue he was a suspect or he was just plain dumb.

"What can I help you with Mister Brass?"

"That's Captain Brass to you," Brass replied. He had never seen so many smug young guys in an interrogation room in one week. He now officially hated criminal justice students; they of all people should know there is nothing like the perfect murder.

"You can help us by telling the truth," Warrick said calmly.

"I already told your colleagues, I was just bringing Emily her clothes the other day," Paul said.

"We're talking about what you did to Dana," Brass was losing his patience.

"Dana? I didn't do anything to her," Paul said.

The young man was getting nervous; it was easy to read on his face. Brass had been so considerate to not only pick up Paul but also to call Catherine. He knew better than to piss the blonde CSI off.

Catherine was standing on the other side of the two-way mirror. She recognized Paul all too well. She had found him suspicious from the moment she met him, carrying around Emily's clothes.

"We can prove you were in Dean's room, we found a note with your fingerprints on it," Warrick said as he handed over a picture of Paul's prints on the note.

"So you found a note with my prints on it, woo hoo, I have to disappoint you but that doesn't say anything,"

"It does when you beat up the person who knows more," Catherine said as she entered the room.

"Oh, it's you again," Paul sighed.

"Why did you beat up Emily, Paul?" Catherine asked, "Is it because she found out? Because she knew too much?"

"I would never touch Emily, besides, I don't even know where she is," he said, sitting back in his chair.

"That's why you followed Dean," Catherine replied, crossing her arms as if she meant to say 'your turn'. She was going to shut this guy up, for Dana, Emily and for Sara.

"If you know Dean so well, then you know you should talk to him, not me."

"That's just what you like us to believe. Emily is prepared to testify against you, you might just as well confess," Catherine hoped he would buy that. She had no idea if Emily would actually testify.

Paul sighed, he mumbled something inaudible and looked up at Catherine.

"You're quite a good bluffer; you should make your money playing poker."

"We've got you Paul, if I were you I'd lawyer up," Brass added.

"I don't need a lawyer, they will just tell me to not say anything. And that's something I can do without a lawyer present," Paul answered, crossing his arms.

"I'm sorry Sara," Emily said softly.

They were sitting on the couch in Sara's living room. Sara had made both of them coffee and they were drinking it in silence, until Emily decided to speak up.

"It's ok, I understand. But I'd really like you to talk, talking helps you know. I don't want you to end up like me. When I look at you, I see myself when I was younger," Sara sighed deeply and tried to hold back a tear. "I never really had someone to talk to, but you do, and I really want you to take advantage of that, please."

Emily looked up at Sara and smiled. "I can't do it today, but, rain check?"

Sara wanted to smile back but couldn't suppress a yawn. Emily put her hand on Sara's shoulder. "Get some sleep. I'll take the couch, we will talk later ok?"

"I'm not tired,"

"Hey! Who gave me a lecture on being honest to each other? If you believe it yourself, I'll believe it too," Emily said while gently squeezing her sister's shoulder.

"You are still too drunk to lecture me, Emily Sidle," Sara snorted.

"Tomorrow we'll talk ok? Right now I'm just too drained," Emily said, "I promise."

Sara smiled and nodded. She got up and walked to her bedroom.

"Erm, Sara?"

Sara turned around and looked at her younger sister expectantly.

"Can I just lie with you for a bit? I kinda don't want to be alone," Emily said, looking back Sara.

Sara smiled, that would be a new experience. She nodded and motioned for Emily to follow her.

Within 5 minutes both women where lying in Sara's king size bed, staring at the ceiling.

"I erm..," Sara started.

"Yeah, I know. Weird huh?" Emily answered while turning her head towards Sara.

Sara did the same and giggled when her eyes met Emily's.

"Thanks, thanks for everything," Emily said her tone more serious this time, "I'm so glad to have family."

"Me too," Sara smiled.

"Goodnight," Emily closed her eyes and turned back. She wasn't good at this kind of thing.

"Sleep well," Sara replied while taking a comfortable position.

"Just take him away," Brass hissed to the two cops who had entered the interrogation room.

They had been "talking" to Paul for over 2 hours and he hadn't told them anything. Warrick was rubbing his eyes and Catherine was leaning against the wall.

"It depends on Emily now," Catherine informed both men.

"Oh great," Brass mumbled, "another one of those annoying students."

"She is different Jim, she came around," Catherine assured him.

"That's why we found her in Sara's apartment all drunk and beaten up," he answered sarcastically.

Catherine's pager chose that time to go off. She took her cell phone and called the number.

"Hey Angie, you paged me?" she said to the receptionist.

"Yeah, there is a visitor for you, Emily Sidle," Angie replied.

"I'm coming right now," Catherine said before hanging up. She looked up at Brass and smiled.

"Emily is here," she said while brushing past Brass on her way out of the interrogation room.

"Emily, what can I do for you?" Catherine said as she spotted her lover's younger sister at the reception area.

"I'd like to talk to you, if you have time that is," Emily said while looking at the ground.

Catherine put her arm around Emily's shoulder to lead the young woman to her office, but Emily flinched and turned away. At first it startled Catherine but she quickly regained her composure and told Emily to follow her.

Catherine wondered what it was with those Sidle women and personal contact; they both seemed to shy away from it.

As they entered Catherine's office, she closed the door and motioned Emily to sit down.

"What do you want to talk about?" Catherine said while sitting down on the chair next to Emily.

"I want to tell you my theory," Emily sighed, "I know who killed Dana."

Catherine couldn't believe her eyes. She was sure Sara was behind this, or maybe Emily was growing up.

Half an hour later, Emily was done with her story. She had told Catherine everything she knew and thought. Catherine had been listening intently.

"Did Sara tell you to tell me this?" Catherine asked when Emily was done.

"No, she only asked me to tell her. I just don't want to let her down anymore." Emily replied.

"I'm very glad you told me this. We have Paul in custody but he refuses to talk, maybe he will talk now we have you. I will hunt him down until he confesses." Catherine said to reassure Emily.

"Catherine?"

"Yes?"

"If you ever hurt Sara, I will hunt you down," Emily said with a sweet voice. Her eyes gave away she was very serious though.

Catherine chuckled, had she heard that right?

"And exactly how could I hurt Sara?" Catherine asked, she couldn't believe Sara had told Emily about them.

"Don't treat me like a child Miss Willows, I'm not blind," Emily said with a sweet smile before leaving a stunned Catherine in her office.


	17. Chapter 17

Sara woke up to the sound of her cell phone ringing. Who would call her at this hour? When she looked around, she didn't see Emily, so she figured it was probably her little sister calling.

"Where are you?" Sara answered the phone.

"Hey Cath, how are you? Oh I'm fine Sara, thank you," the voice on the other side of the line said.

"Oh hey Cath, I'm sorry. I though you were Emily," Sara smiled into the phone.

There was nothing better than to wake up to Catherine's voice.

"How are you baby?" Catherine asked.

"I'm fine, I just woke up. I'm kind of wondering where Emily is, but I shouldn't be so worried I guess, she is not a little child anymore."

"Emily just left the Lab; she was here to tell me everything. She might have broken the case with her information." Catherine said. She decided not to tell Sara any of the other things Emily had told her.

Sara smiled into the phone, she was so proud of Emily. "I'm glad she did. How are you Cath? You should go home and get some sleep, hang out with Lindsay for a bit," Sara said, her lover's voice sounded tired.

"I will, after I finish my paperwork," Catherine sighed. Sara reminded her of how tired she really was.

Emily knocked on the doorpost of Grissom's office since the door was already open.

"Emily, come in," the older man said, "what can I do for you?"

"I want to apologize for causing problems in your Lab, Sir." Emily said looking at the floor.

Before Grissom could really reply, Emily was talking again.

"I didn't mean to cause trouble; I wasn't going to tell about my relation to Sara, I just came to Las Vegas to find her, not to mess up her life. I just found that it is impossible to lie or avoid answering questions of your CSI's."

Grissom smiled, "the evidence never lies, Emily."

"I know Mr. Grissom," Emily smiled before turning around to leave the office.

"Emily," Grissom said to the young woman who was about to leave his office.

Emily stopped and turned around, looking expectantly at Grissom.

"Keep studying, you will get there. You are just as smart as your sister," Grissom said. He felt the strange need to encourage this young woman; she seemed lost while actually she was very much at her place.

"Thank you, Mr. Grissom," Emily smiled.

"I will see you soon," Grissom said meaning it as a way of saying goodbye.

"I sure hope so. I hope they will let me continue my studies after all that happened," Emily sighed, remembering that this might be a huge problem and a damage to her career.

"Don't worry about it, you were cleared, and you helped us find the killer. If there is any problem, you can call me ok? I want you to finish your school; it would be a waste of your intelligence if you don't." Grissom questioned himself for what he was just saying, why was it that he felt the need to protect the Sidle women? Why was it that he was reaching out for them?

"I will Mr. Grissom, thanks," with that Emily left his office. She felt like she was walking on air, that man believed in her!

Emily reached for the pack of cinnamon gum in her back pocket. "Cinnamon girl is back," she mumbled. When she exited the Crime Lab, she put the gum in her mouth and looked up at the sky, "for you Dana," she said to the sun which was shining on her face.

Sara looked up at the door as she heard a knock on it. She thought Emily would have taken the keys when she left. When she opened the door she was pushed back, the door was slammed shut and she was pushed against it.

Before Sara could properly register what was happening, lips crashed into hers and hands were tugging her top out of her pyjama pants.

Sara smiled into the lips. When she got some room to breathe she chuckled, "hi to you too Cath."

The blonde woman in front of her looked incredibly sexy, her hair was messy, her face flushed and her lips were swollen from the mind-blowing kiss she just gave Sara.

Catherine smiled and slowly moved her hands up; she shivered from the feel of Sara's soft skin.

"I just thought I'd come by, now there is nothing that can disturb us," she grinned.

Sara's breath hitched as Catherine's nails were gently tracing her stomach and her sides, going up ever so slow. She moved forward to capture Catherine's lips, the softest lips she had ever kissed. Catherine cupped Sara's breasts, making the younger woman moan into her mouth. That was a cue for Catherine to continue, she gently massaged Sara's breasts through the fabric of her bra, flicking her thumbs over Sara's already hard nipples.

Sara's head was spinning, yeah she had kissed Catherine before, but now that same Catherine was playing with her breasts, she felt her knees go weak and she knew she wouldn't be able to stand up much longer.

"Cath," she whispered, her voice seemed to have given out on her.

Catherine looked at Sara with a questioning look.

"Couch," Sara managed to get out.

Catherine grinned and pushed Sara on the couch. She wanted to mock Sara and say that next time she should ask with a proper sentence but her own language skills were not working properly either.

"Too much clothes," was all she managed to mumble as she tugged on Sara's tank top.

Sara helped Catherine with taking off her top and cursed herself for wearing a bra; she wanted to feel Catherine on her.

Catherine sat up to let Sara take off her blouse as she took in the gorgeous sight in front of her. Sara's eyes seemed almost black with desire, her whole skin was flushed and she was breathing heavily. _Finally it's going to happen, _her mind told her. She smiled at the idea and felt her whole body tingle with want for the woman in front of her.

Sara's hands were shaking, which didn't help with the task she was trying to complete. Catherine was losing her patience and yanked on the buttons of her blouse. Sara gasped at the sight of Catherine in front of her; she didn't get much time to take in the sight because Catherine was all over her.

Sara didn't know what to think or where to focus on, Catherine seemed to be all over her, kissing her, touching her, taking nips of her skin, flicking her tongue, it was all becoming too much. Sara was overwhelmed by the want and need she felt for her blonde co-worker, all she could do was moan.

The sound of Sara moaning seemed to go straight to Catherine's head, she felt as if she was on a high and she couldn't stop the want for tasting and touching the gorgeous woman in front of her.

"Oh Cath," Sara moaned. She actually wanted to tell Catherine to stop teasing her and get to the point, but her voice gave out on her.

Catherine smiled against Sara's skin as she heard the request. She reached behind Sara's back to unclasp the bra that was keeping her from Sara's breasts. Just when she threw Sara's bra on the floor there was another knock on the door.

Both women groaned out of frustration. Catherine quickly got dressed and hid Sara's bra under the pillow of the couch as Sara quickly put on her tank top and went to see who was interrupting them now.

As Sara opened the door, Emily walked past her.

"Sorry, I forgot to take the keys," she said to no one in particular.

As Emily looked up she saw Catherine standing in the living room, look bewildered as if she had just crossed a jungle to get here. Emily gasped and turned around to see an equally bewildered Sara smiling awkwardly at her.

"Oh," Emily said as she turned red.

Emily turned around and shot Catherine a death glare, making sure Sara couldn't see it.

"Catherine, how nice to see you again," she said with a sweet voice.

Emily desperately wanted to warn the woman who had captured her sister's heart.

Catherine smiled sweetly at Emily, "hello Emily."

"I'll make some coffee," Sara said as she quickly escaped to the kitchen.

Catherine looked at Emily as if she wanted to say 'two can play that game'. Emily smiled back and sat down on the couch.

"I have no intentions at all to hurt your sister, Emily," Catherine said seriously, she didn't want the young Sidle to hate her for no reason.

"You better not," Emily said.

"Look Emily, I don't know who you think I am but I'm an adult and I'm not going to play this adolescent game of yours,"

"I'm not playing games if you aren't Miss Willows," Emily said, smiling sweetly.

"I love your sister," Catherine said, a little louder than she meant to say it.

Both looked up at the sound of a cup clashing with the ground. Sara was standing in the doorway looking shocked. She had dropped the cup and was now staring at Catherine.

"I'll clean it up," Emily said as she rushed into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry," Sara said to Catherine, who looked at her in shock.

Catherine hadn't meant for Sara to hear her confession since she didn't want to scare Sara away. But seeing what just happened, she figured it was too late, she hoped her newfound lover wouldn't take a step back after hearing her confession.

"I should go," Catherine said. She didn't want to scare off Sara any more, maybe the younger woman needed some time to think.

She heard Emily chuckle at her remark. When she looked at Sara she saw a hurt look pass in her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a blank look, the so called "Sidle look of composure".

"Yeah, you need sleep," Sara said.

Catherine walked into the kitchen with some of the pieces of the cup she had picked up.

"Way to go stud," Emily mumbled just loud enough for Catherine to hear.

"Since when are you the expert on relationships," Catherine bit back.

Emily chuckled again. "Just don't hurt her Catherine," she said in a serious tone. "Don't play the game if you haven't read the rules yet."

"I'm not playing a game Emily, I'm not a child anymore," Catherine answered. Emily's hostility seemed to ebb away.

"Neither am I, but I've seen this game a million times," Emily answered simply.

The conversation came to an abrupt end when Sara walked into the kitchen with the rest of the pieces of the cup and the cup that was still in one piece.

Catherine dried off her hands and walked out of the kitchen.

"I'll see you tonight Sara," she said as she got her purse.

"Yeah, see you tonight Cath," Sara said as she smiled at Catherine.

Sara wasn't sure what to do, her heart sank as she heard the door close softly behind Catherine.

"I might not be an expert on this, but I know that wasn't the smartest move," Emily said.

"Just shut up," Sara said as she gave her younger sister a death glare.

Emily cringed and walked out of the kitchen, she had to get away.

Sara looked at Emily's form leaving the kitchen and hurrying to the bedroom, she wondered what her younger sister was up to.

When Emily came back out of the bedroom she was carrying her overnight bag. "I will no longer bother you," she said as she slammed the front door and left a flabbergasted Sara behind.

When Sara was able to move again she hurried after Emily. "Emily!" She shouted.

"Leave me alone Sara, I will be fine," Emily said. She didn't dare to turn around and face Sara. Tears were flowing form her face. She knew she had nowhere to go, but she just had to get away.

"Emily, come on! I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said," Sara pleaded. She managed to catch up with Emily, who was waiting for the elevator.

"Don't you see Sara; I'm just in your way. It's better if I just leave," Emily sighed.

"Look at me Emily," Sara pleaded. She knew her sister's face would be pretty much the same as hers.

Emily looked up and saw an equally sad face staring at her.

"I want you around Emily, now we've found each other we should stick together."

The elevator arrived and Emily got in. "Get some sleep Sara, you'll know where to find me," she said as the doors closed.

"I don't want to find you, I've already found you," Sara mumbled to the elevator doors.


	18. Chapter 18

"Well, well, Mister Johnson, we meet again," Brass said in an amused tone. He knew they had Paul this time.

"Detective Brass, it's always a pleasure," Paul answered with a smile on his face.

"Emily testified against you, Mister Johnson, her and the evidence we have against you seal the case. So speak up," Brass said.

"Emily would never do that," Paul said angrily as he slammed his fist on the table. "She would never betray me."

"She did man," Nick said, "and she didn't even sweat," he added to prove his point.

"That's what you get when you beat people up; they tend to plot against you." Brass added.

"Why did you kill Dana?" Nick asked.

Paul sighed; he seemed to be considering something before going with the flow and answering the question.

"Dean hurt my girlfriend, I hurt his," he simply answered.

Catherine was looking in on the interview and shook her head.

"I know it's not that simple, Paul," she mumbled to no one in particular, "you are smarter than that."

Nick entered the room, he needed a break. He didn't want to admit it but he did get personally involved knowing that guy had hurt Sara's sister. Even though he had never met the already notorious younger Sidle, it was still Sara's sister. And Sara meant a lot more to him than anyone would ever know.

"Hey Nicky, you look tired," Catherine said after turning around to see who entered.

"Yeah, this whole case," Nick paused a moment before continuing, "It's getting to me, you know."

"It's getting to all of us," Catherine said while putting her hand on Nick's shoulder, "want me to take it from here?" She asked, hoping Nick would let her. She was ready to confront Paul; she was ready to play this game he seemed to play so well.

Nick nodded and smiled at his blonde colleague, "thanks."

"Anytime Nicky, anytime," Catherine said. She turned around to join Brass in the interrogation room.

As Catherine was about to enter the interrogation room, she almost collided with the object of her affection.

"Hey," Catherine said with a smile as she grabbed Sara to keep her from falling.

Sara just stared at her. Catherine couldn't read the beautiful brown orbs of the younger woman, at first they seemed to show affection, but soon all the expression in Sara's eyes faded.

"What's your hurry sweetie?" Catherine asked.

"I wanted to look in on Nick's interrogation with that asshole," Sara said, not acknowledging Catherine's affection.

"That would be my interrogation now," Catherine said. Sara seemed to be in work mode, Catherine started anyway, she didn't want to lose the best thing she had in a long time.

Catherine took a deep breath, "Sara, about yesterday..," but she didn't get to finish her sentence.

"Sara," Grissom called her from his office just down the hallway.

Sara sighed and looked apologetically at Catherine.

"I'm sorry," Catherine said quickly, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Sara," Grissom called her again.

Sara opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something but then closed it again and turned around to walk to Grissom's office.

Catherine just stood there in the hallway for a while; she couldn't believe the way she had fallen so quickly for the younger woman. In the beginning she thought Sara Sidle didn't do emotions, but that same Sara Sidle was proving her oh so wrong. That same Sara Sidle was making her fall so damn hard she hardly could keep up. Catherine shook her head to wake herself up from her reverie; there was another Sidle who needed her to focus right now. She wanted closure for Emily, and she wanted that little jerk by the name of Paul behind bars.

Sara entered Grissom's office. "Sorry, I was talking to Catherine about the case," she apologized and sat down after picking up the books that were on the chair.

"I've got a case and I want you to come with me," Grissom sighed and paused for a moment as if he was thinking about something, "a young woman found dead in her bedroom, the parents claim it's suicide, but Sofia called me, she says it's a suspicious circs."

Sara didn't reply and just stared at her boss. Why did he want her to come with him? Why couldn't he ask anyone else?

Grissom got up and waited for Sara to follow him. "Let's go."

Emily let herself fall on her squeaky bed. She hadn't even bothered to unpack her duffel bag. Tears were flowing from her eyes, she knew Sara wasn't really mad at her, she knew Sara wanted her to stay but she couldn't. It was all too much, too soon. She knew it would do her relationship with Sara damage by pushing her away but she couldn't do this right now.

She closed her eyes to think, but her train of thought was roughly disturbed by the sound of her phone ringing. Emily forgot why the hell she even got a phone, she hated the stupid thing and no one called her anyway. She groaned and got up to see who was calling her, it was Sara, she threw the phone in the corner of the room and dropped back on her bed.

Emily stared at the ceiling, her mind was telling her to call her sister back but she didn't give in. The inner turmoil was driving her crazy; it was like a movie was playing in her head, over and over again, a movie starring her own big sister. Emily laughed at the irony of the situation. For as long as she remembered she had been dreaming about her older sister, she hadn't really actually searched for her, but deep down she always wanted to meet her. And now she met her older sister and she was pushing that some older sister away.

The young Sidle got up from her bed and walked into the bathroom across the hallway, she had a stash of her pills hidden behind the toilet. Not that she really needed to hide the pills, but it was more of an emergency stash. Emily looked at herself in the mirror; she was just as pale as always, in a way she had found it quite nice to be as pale as she was, at least she was one of the few girls who didn't spend hours at a tanning salon. Unfortunately the dull glaze of her eyes made the whole picture eerie; it was as if she was staring at the ghost of her reflection and not at herself.

Emily looked at the pills in her hand, two little white pills. Just two, she didn't want to hurt herself, she just wanted to sleep for a while. In her sleep at least she wouldn't have to deal with all the things in her life, right now she preferred ten nightmares over what she was going through. She had been strong throughout the whole ordeal, but now it was enough. Since breaking down wasn't an option, sleeping would do. She knew she would feel nauseated when she woke up, but she had always thought nausea was seriously overrated.

The young Sidle held up her hand and inspected the pills again.

"I don't really need them, just want my brain to stop making me feel like shit," she said to convince herself it wasn't all that bad.

She quickly downed the pills with a glass of water and went back to her room. She knew damn well she shouldn't use the pills like she just did, but she couldn't really care at the moment. She crawled into her bed and closed her eyes, patiently waited for sleep to take over.

"I'll be fine," she mumbled to herself, "I've always managed, and I will manage now."

Not long after that, she fell asleep.

Sara dropped her keys on the table next to the door before slamming it shut. Her shift had been awful, even though they had solved the case quite easily. She was sad about what happened between her and Emily, and seeing the other girl dead, by the hand of her parents, only made Sara feel worse. She felt a weird need of taking care of Emily, of wrapping her arms around her younger sister and never let go. Now, more than ever, she understood why Catherine had the need to go home to Lindsay after cases concerning little girls.

Suddenly Sara was reminded of the eerie silence in her apartment, another thing that made her realise her sister wasn't around anymore. A painful way of facing the fact things weren't going well, and not only with her relationship with Emily. She didn't know what to do about Catherine either, the blonde Goddess who had confessed her love for Sara, to Emily of all people. Sara had been stunned, first of all she would have never thought Catherine would be attracted to her, but return her feelings of love? That was just unheard of; she didn't deserve to be with this beautiful woman.

Sara quickly downed a beer and made her way to the bathroom to get ready for bed. The last thing she wanted now was stay awake. As she was brushing her teeth her eye fell on a small bottle of pills, standing on the sink. It wasn't hers and it didn't look like anything she knew. She picked it up, holding on to her toothbrush with her teeth. As she thoroughly inspected the bottle, she suddenly remembered why the brand name sounded so familiar, she gasped, which caused the toothbrush to fall to the floor. It was Seroxat, a very common anti depressant.

"Damn," Sara muttered.

She had to find Emily, those pills belonged to her. Emily was taking these goddamn pills. Sara felt so angry. When she was younger, the doctor once told her she should take those pills, so she would feel better. She had read all about the pills and knew better than that, she so desperately wished she could have been there to prevent Emily from taking that garbage.

Sara walked to the door, grabbed her keys and left to find her sister. She got in her car and drove off, holding onto the steering wheel so tight that her knuckles were white. She wanted to sort everything once and for all. She was also going to tell Emily to stop running, and to start trusting her. She knew trust was a sensitive issue, but they were both going to have to get used to it. It was new for her as well; they could work it out together.

As she pulled over in front of Greek House, all the courage she had talked into herself seemed to have vanished. She looked up at the house and took a deep breath before getting out of the car.

Emily hadn't locked her door, so Sara entered quietly. She saw her sister sleeping on the bed that was practically the only piece of furniture in the room. There were hardly any personal items in the room; it looked like no one had lived here for a long time. There was a bookshelf with schoolbooks in it, a wooden chair next to it, a wooden desk and the bed. Sara took the wooden chair she found and put it next to the bed; she sat down and stared at Emily. She looked so peaceful while sleeping, it made Sara feel calm herself.

Emily woke up with a pounding headache and the feeling she was going to be sick. Yup, always effective those pills, she groaned in her head. She turned around to find her sister, asleep on a chair next to her bed. Sara's head had fallen to the side and her hair had fallen in front of her face, Emily noted that her sister must be really uncomfortable. She wondered what Sara was doing in her room, but then she remembered the conversation they had earlier. It was playing in her head like a movie. She had told Sara that she would know where to find her, and well Sara did.

A smile appeared on Emily's face, it was great to feel this way. Sara really cared about her, and she had proved it by putting up with her and never giving up. Right there and then Emily decided what she was going to do. She wrote a short note for Sara and sneaked out of the room. Emily Sidle was a girl with a mission.

Emily rushed into the Las Vegas Crime Lab, looking for a familiar face, someone who could help her out. She knew Grissom would probably not help her, so it was either that spiky haired guy that was always drooling over her sister or one of the other guys. It would help so much if she just knew their names!

"Whoa missy, where do you think you are going?" The receptionist shouted at her as she passed by.

Emily stopped and turned to watch the guy with a sigh. Unbelievable, why was it always easier to get into Government buildings when you are a criminal?

"Do you have an appointment?" The man asked her, more insistent this time.

"Yeah," Emily lied. Way to go Sidle, she thought, she didn't sound very convincing.

"If it isn't gorgeous junior," the voice of the spiky haired guy saved Emily.

"Hey!" Emily said, maybe a little over enthusiastic. Normally she would have punched the guy for his stupid remark, but now she was thanking whoever made this goofball come and save her.

"I have an appointment with this man," Emily said as she smiled sweetly at the receptionist, who still didn't seem to buy the story.

"It's true," Greg added as he motioned Emily to follow him.

"You so owe me!" Greg said as they were in the safety of his lab.

"Yeah, you can collect with my sister, she will be happy to pay up," Emily answered sarcastically.

"You are definitely your sister's sister," Greg said with a smile.

"Listen, erm…"

"Greg, my name is Greg, although most people call me Stud."

"Sure," Emily said as she rolled her eyes, although she couldn't hold back a smile, this guy was funny, in a weird way. "Listen Greg, I need your help."

"Anything for Sara's sister," Greg answered as he sat down on his chair.

When Emily was done explaining Greg's smile was so big, Emily wondered if it was going to stick on his face like that forever.

"I like that idea! I'll even drive you, I've been in here way too long anyway," he said before jumping up.

"Thanks," Emily said with a Sidle-smile.

As soon as Greg was done cleaning up and getting his jacket they got in his car. Emily made a mental note never ever to get in a car with him again, he was a nice guy but she was sure he got his driver's license with a pack of sugar. Now she understood why Sara was always so reluctant to let anyone else drive.

"We are here Madame," Greg said with a smile.

"Thanks Greg, I really owe you," Emily saw the smile on the man's face, "although I'm probably going to regret this someday."

"Hey!" Greg protested.

Emily ruffled up Greg's hair before getting out of the car.

"Hey!" Greg protested again, although he couldn't really repress his smile.

"I'll see you around," Emily said, leaning into the window of the car. "Thanks again Greg, I mean it."

"No problem," the blonde man answered with a smile before driving off.

Emily looked at the house in front of her; she took a deep breath and walked towards the driveway.


	19. Chapter 19

Emily had been standing in front of the door for five minutes. She sighed and decided just to go with it; her courage probably wouldn't ever come back. She rang the doorbell and waited.

Suddenly Emily felt very sick, as if her stomach was deciding that the pills she took really had to go. The door opened and the blonde woman smiled in surprise.

"Emily, what are you doing here?"

Without saying a word Emily brushed past the woman and ran inside. She stopped in her tracks when she realised she didn't know where the bathroom was.

"I'm sorry, where is the bathroom," she managed to say.

The blonde woman pointed to the door on the right and Emily rushed inside.

"Emily, are you ok?" She heard the voice say.

Emily splashed some water in her face, not that it would help any, but it felt nice.

"I'm fine, I'll be out in a minute," she said before taking a deep breath and entering the hallway again.

In front of her stood a very surprised, confused and concerned Catherine Willows with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"What's going on and what are you doing here?" She said in her 'don't mess with me' mother voice, the one she used on Lindsay when the adolescent had done something very wrong.

"Erm, well, this was a good idea when I planned it," Emily stumbled, "I didn't mean to get sick, I'm sorry."

Seeing the distraught young woman in front of her, Catherine realised she needed another approach.

"Sit down Emily, can I get you something to drink?" She asked the younger woman.

Emily sat down and looked at Catherine like a little puppy in distress. "No thanks, I would like to get this over with."

"What?" Catherine asked as she sat down next to Emily.

"Ok, please don't interrupt me," Emily said before taking a deep breath. "I know you really care about Sara, and I'm sorry for acting like I did. I just wanted to try to protect her. Sara is special, and not just because she happens to be my sister. But she has been hurt before, lots of times, and all those times have left deep scars. Please be careful with her, take everything one step at a time. And when she pushes you away, keep trying." By now there were tears rolling over Emily's cheek, she looked up at Catherine, who had troubles with keeping it dry herself, and they smiled at each other. "You are a good woman, and I owe you a lot for helping me like you did. Thank you."

Emily paused and Catherine took that as a cue to start talking. She took a deep breath before starting but Emily beat her to it.

"Here," she said as she handed Catherine a set of keys, "these are the keys to my room. You know where it is, it's where I left Sara. Go to her; go tell her what you need to say. I will stay here and watch your daughter."

Catherine smiled but was hesitant to take the keys. "How do you know about Lindsay?"

"Miss Willows, it's all Sara talks about, you and Lindsay. Don't worry; I can take care of her. You just really need to take care of you right now."

Emily moved her fingers, making the keys rinkle, "Come on, take them."

Catherine smiled and took the keys, she knew things would be fine. Lindsay was sleeping and normally her daughter wouldn't wake up during the night.

"She is 13 Miss Willows, I'm sure you can leave her alone with me for a bit."

The blonde woman looked up at the younger brunette, "you are such a smartass, you know that? I really wonder how Sara puts up with you."

Emily chuckled, "Just go, and don't come back until you two have properly talked. I've been putting things between you two on a hold for way too long already."

Catherine entered Emily's room and immediately noticed Sara sleeping on the chair next to the bed. She smiled, Sara was really doing her sister job, who would have thought Sara Sidle would be able to do that. She slowly walked over to the chair and tugged the strands of hair behind Sara's ears before calling her name softly.

"Sara, wake up."

There was no reaction, which meant Catherine had to use heavier artillery. With a smirk she leaned down and started showering Sara's face with kisses.

The lick on Sara's ear made her wake up. Catherine smiled at the power she had over Sara.

Sara groaned, her whole body felt like someone had beaten her up with a stick. As she opened her eyes she saw Catherine staring at her. Trying to make out the rest of the room she realised she wasn't at home.

"We're in Emily's room Sara," Catherine said before gently kissing her lips. "I came here to talk to you."

"Where's Emily?"

"She is at my house, watching Lindsay."

Sara's eyes grew wide, that sure woke her up. "Are you kidding me?"

"No," Catherine smiled as she sat on the bed opposite of Sara, "she came to talk sense into me and offered to stay with Lindsay."

A sudden warmth seemed to fill Sara's whole body. She couldn't help but smile.

"I see you are as stunned as I was," Catherine smiled, "but she is right, we need to talk."

Sara groaned, as she looked at Catherine's lips she had other plans. "Kiss first, talk later," she said as she leaned forward and captured Catherine's lips. The blonde pulled Sara to her, wrapped her legs around her and managed to get them both on the bed.

Amazed by Catherine's agility, Sara lost control for a moment, causing her to find herself underneath a heavily breathing Catherine Willows. Not that it was a bad thing, but Sara liked being in control herself.

Lindsay was sneaking down the stairs to get something from the fridge. She had been doing that for the past few months without waking her mother up, but it was still a dangerous operation. One wrong move and she might find herself in severe trouble.

To her surprise the living room was lit, which immediately made her plan fail. Before she could sneak back up the stairs, someone was standing next to her. It was not her mother, because her mother wasn't able to sneak up on her like that.

"Hey Lindsay, sneaking around the house?" the woman said.

"Who the fuck are you?" Lindsay was startled by the other person and was shooting her a famous Willows death glare.

"I'm Emily Sidle, nice to meet you."

"I don't care who the fuck you are, what the fuck are you doing in my house?" Lindsay shot back.

"Now that's contradiction Lindsay, first asking me who I am and then telling me you don't care." Emily replied.

Lindsay sighed, this woman was just like her mom, if not worse.

"What are you doing here?" she asked again, calmer this time.

"Now that's better," Emily said as she winked at Lindsay. "I'm Sara's sister and I'm watching you."

"I don't need a babysitter, I'm 13." Lindsay snapped at Emily.

"I know you don't, I just wanted to get your mom to leave the house to talk to my sister." Emily replied with a smile.

Lindsay smiled back. Ok, maybe this Emily wasn't all that bad.

"Since you are awake anyway, care to have a drink with me?" Emily asked.

Lindsay's eyes lit up, "as in an alcoholic drink?"

"Do I look like I'm crazy? I don't know your mother very well, but I know enough not to want to get myself on her shit list," Emily replied, "Coke will have to do."

"I hear ya, my mom can be very scary when you are on her bad side," Lindsay said. And as Emily walked to the kitchen she continued, "But it was worth a try."

Emily laughed. Lindsay was definitely her mother's daughter.

"So tell me, Emily Sidle," Lindsay started as Emily put two glasses of coke on the table, "How come Sara never talked about you?"

"That is a long story."

"Do I look like I'm in a hurry?" Lindsay replied with a 'duh' look on her face.

Catherine kept focusing on Sara's face as her fingers were playing with the brunette. She truly looked like an angel, especially now she was so close to edge. Sara's hips started moving faster and Catherine adjusted her rhythm so it was matching Sara's hips again, she leaned forward and captured Sara's earlobe between her teeth.

"Let go Sara, relax," she encouraged the younger woman. She could feel Sara was holding back, she was trying to keep control.

Sara tried really hard to relax, but the truth was that she was afraid to lose control. She was angry with herself that she was having problems with this, she trusted Catherine, why wouldn't her body just go along.

"I got you Sara," Catherine whispered in Sara's ear.

Sara tightened her grip on Catherine's free hand and let herself fall over the edge, knowing Catherine would catch her. She was seeing stars of all different colours and it felt like fireworks were exploding in her body. All the while she heard Catherine whispering sweet things in her ears and holding her tight.

As Sara came down from her high she slowly opened her eyes to find Catherine staring at her.

"You are beautiful," the blonde woman said.

Sara smiled and tugged a strand of hair behind Catherine's ear. "You are beautiful," Sara replied.

Catherine captured Sara's lips for a sweet kiss. When they broke the kiss and were staring at each other, they both knew that talking was not necessary.

"Sara," Catherine started but Sara wouldn't let her finish, the brunette put her finger on Catherine's lips to stop her from talking.

"It's ok," she said as she pulled Catherine into a hug.

Suddenly Catherine started laughing, "I can't believe we made love in your sister's bed, she will probably never want to sleep in it again."

Sara chuckled and kissed Catherine's forehead, "who says she will ever find out?"

"Come on, you know she is like a psychic, she can see right through you," Catherine replied, pulling Sara closer to her.

"She probably already knows, she is the one who send you here."

"She send me here to talk," Catherine said as she traced Sara's sides with her fingers.

"Talking is overrated," Sara mumbled.

Catherine chuckled, "I've always taught Lindsay that actions speak louder than words."

Sara giggled, "Exactly."

Lindsay had been listening to Emily without interrupting her. The young Willows was fascinated by Emily's story, it also made her realise she had been very lucky. Her parents may not have been together and she had to do without a father, but at least she knew what it was like to have a family and to be loved unconditionally. Although her mom could be a real pain in the ass, she knew her mom loved her.

Emily was surprised how easy it had been to tell Lindsay what she wanted to hear, and how she seemed to understand it all. She did tell Lindsay the PG version of course; she didn't want problems with Catherine.

"I'm glad you found Sara, I think everyone deserves a family," Lindsay stated before drinking her last sip of coke.

"Thank you," Emily smiled.

"And I'm also happy for Sara, I've seen her around a few times and she always seemed so erm..how can I say it..well lost."

Emily didn't know what to say, instead she watched Lindsay as the girl seemed to be contemplating something.

"Hang on a second!" She suddenly exclaimed. "Are you implying that my mom and Sara…"

"Yes, I'm implying that," Emily replied before Lindsay could finish her sentence.

"Finally! I wondered when they would finally give into that tension between them, man even I could see it!" Lindsay exclaimed.

Emily laughed; Lindsay was a very intelligent and perceptive girl for her age.

"My thoughts exactly," she said.

"Hey! So that also means you and me are kinda becoming family then," Lindsay observed.

"I'm afraid so," Emily said with a wink.

"No, that's actually kinda cool. You can drive me around and stuff and you can help me get into the cool clubs."

"Are you kidding me? The driving around I might be able to live with, but there is no way I'm taking you to a club, I'm not planning to die before graduation," Emily mocked.

"Well, we can take it one step at a time then," Lindsay said as she stretched out her hand, "Deal?"

Emily smiled and shook Lindsay's hand, "Deal."

"Why do I have the feeling I don't want to know about this deal?" A voice said, startling both Emily and Lindsay.

"Mom," Lindsay said with a sweet voice.

"Catherine, hi," Emily said with a sheepish smile.

"If it weren't for Emily being here, you'd be in big trouble missy," Catherine said to Lindsay.

Emily gently squeezed Lindsay's hand and winked at her.

"And you Emily Sidle, you would be in trouble if it weren't for Lindsay being around," Sara backed Catherine up.

Lindsay started giggling and squeezed Emily's hand back. Emily and she would form the perfect team, at least she had someone to team up against her mom with her.

"Sure Sara," Emily chuckled.


	20. Chapter 20

_**A/N:** This is the last chapter of Cinnamon Girl, it's set three years from the murder. I want to thank everyone for bearing with me and for their patience! I'm still in Spain (will probably come back home somewhere in August) but I do actually have some time to write a little. I will post my new story ASAP. Thanks guys!_

Emily was sitting in her dorm room. It had been 3 years since Dana had died and she was about to graduate. After the whole case, Emily had moved back to campus and everyone seemed to have forgotten about it. No one ever harassed her about it anymore, although Emily suspected it had something to do with her sister walking around on campus, gun clearly visible, when she came to visit her.

There wasn't a day that had gone by without thoughts of Dana and Emily knew it would always be like that. But there also wasn't a day that had gone by that Emily felt she couldn't take it anymore; she knew she had someone to fall back on. Emily smiled at the thought of her sister, it was just like she had imagined as a kid, and it even got better. Sara had moved in with Catherine and now she had three people to turn to, every one of them had their own specialty. Catherine had been there for her a lot the past three years, to help her boost her self esteem. Lindsay was there for advice on boys, she might be the youngest of the three but she had all the knowledge about boys. And Sara, well she basically went to Sara for everything that didn't have to do with boys or self esteem.

And there was someone else who was playing an important role in her life, someone by the name of Gil Grissom, who she always went to for advice about school and pursuing her dreams. He would even let her hang around the lab on the weekends, if it wasn't too busy and she didn't have to stay with Lindsay. Even though Lindsay was old enough to take care of herself, Catherine still preferred it they were together when Catherine was working on the weekends. Fortunately that always went down without any problems since Lindsay liked hanging out with her and vice versa.

All in all her life was good, apart from the one black void she had to carry with her. The black void that she and Catherine had discussed so many, maybe too many, times. Today she felt the need to talk about it again and had called Catherine, she had asked her to meet up in a diner near the CSI headquarters.

Catherine was driving her car towards the diner, it was probably the millionth time she was meeting Emily there. Sara knew they would meat up occasionally to have a coffee and chat, but Sara didn't know what they talked about. In a way Catherine was glad Emily was talking about it to her, but she thought Sara should know about this too.

When Catherine entered the diner, Emily was already sitting at their spot with two cups of steaming coffee.

"Hey," Catherine said.

"Hey Catherine," Emily replied with a faint smile as she handed Catherine her coffee.

"Emily, don't you think it's time to move on? Or to tell Sara about this? I mean, it's not that I dislike our meetings here, but I think you shouldn't dwell on it."

"It was my fault Catherine, Paul killed Dana because she had me and he knew it would never be him."

"Emily, Paul killed Dana because something in his head was wrong, not because of you, there was nothing you could have done about it."

"Dana told him, you know. Dana told him that he should stay away from me, that he would never get as close to me as she was."

"Please Emily, we've been over this so many times already. I understand how you feel, I really do, but don't you think Dana would have wanted you to move on with your life? You helped catching the one who hurt her, there wasn't anything else you could have done."

Catherine reached over the table and took Emily's hands in hers. "It's time to move on Emily, to go on with your life. Trust me, I know how you feel, something similar happened to me when I was younger, and there isn't a day I don't think of her, but I've moved on. I have moved on because I know she would have wanted me to."

Emily looked up at Catherine in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes, Sara wasn't the first woman I've been with; it was a long time ago. It doesn't mean that I don't care about her anymore, I just moved on. Just like you should."

"Grissom talked to Ecklie today," Emily said, changing the subject.

"Normally I wouldn't let you change the subject, but I think you got my point," Catherine smiled and winked at Emily, "do tell about the talk, I'm curious."

"He is trying to get me a job," Emily smiled.

"I have never seen Grissom put his ass on the line like this before, well not for someone who doesn't have the last name Sidle," Catherine said, "is that what you want?"

"Yes," Emily answered.

"Are you sure? Is it not just because you want to impress Sara?"

"That too, but yes, I really want this. When I'm at the lab, it gives me a rush, and when I hear you talk about your cases, I just want to dive right in. I know I have a lot of years to go before I can actually go out in the field, but even knowing I can be part of the team makes me feel like I've had too much coke," Emily smirked.

"About that, I still have to find a suiting punishment for you, it's your fault Lindsay drinks nothing but coke these days. I'm sure that if they'd draw blood from you two, they would find there is coke running through your veins."

Emily chuckled. "I think Lindsay is old enough to make her own choices."

Catherine mockingly punched Emily's shoulder. "You know damn well you have a huge influence on her, she's been looking up to you since the day she met you."

Emily's smile made Catherine truly happy. The relationship she had with Sara, and the one she had with Emily all started under the most bizarre circumstances, but now they were really like a family. Emily had changed so much over the past few years, she seemed happier. Hanging around Lindsay sure had made her forget about her bad past. Catherine was glad she could show the Sidle women the values of being a family.

"Let's go, your sister might be going crazy, you need to save her," Catherine mentioned as she handed Emily her keys.

Sara was still at home with Lindsay and would take Catherine's car to work as soon as Emily would report for 'Lindsay-duty'.

"Catherine," Emily said, getting the older woman's undivided attention.

Catherine looked at Emily's face and already knew what she was going to say. Just like Sara, Emily couldn't hide the emotions her face was showing. Both Sidle women seemed to be confident and maybe cold to the outside world, but to Catherine they were two open books, different books, but still quite the same.

"Thank you," Emily smiled.

"Anytime Emily, anytime, you know that."

That morning when Sara and Catherine came home after quite a boring shift, they found Emily and Lindsay sleeping on the couch. They had been having their weekly Buffy marathon and probably fell asleep.

"I'll wake them up, you go get ready for bed," Catherine said in a sultry voice.

She didn't have to say that twice, before she could even look at Sara, the brunette was already halfway the stairs. Catherine grinned and walked to the couch to wake her daughter and Emily up.

"Ladies, time to get up," she said with a smile. She was so glad Lindsay got along with Emily, they both influenced each other in a very good way.

Lindsay was the first to wake up. As she realised she was on the couch she smiled weakly at her mother and walked upstairs to her bedroom without saying a word.

"Emily," Catherine repeated.

Emily stirred and opened her eyes. "Oh hi, I'm sorry, I fell asleep," she mumbled.

"I can see that," Catherine chuckled, "want me to take you home?"

Emily nodded and slowly got up.

"Mom," Lindsay shouted from the hallway.

Catherine stuck her head out of the kitchen to answer her daughter's call.

"Yes?"

"I'm going out with Em, see you tomorrow," Lindsay said as she put on her coat.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, who is Em? And where are you going looking like that?" Catherine asked her 16 year old daughter. Lindsay had her hair up, her face full of make-up and she was applying extra lip gloss on the already God knows how many layers of lipstick on her lips.

Lindsay rolled her eyes and looked at her mother as if she just said the dumbest thing ever.

"Duh mom, Emily, you know, my aunt?"

"Are you sure?" Catherine asked, not believing a word Lindsay told her. Besides the fact that Lindsay kept calling Emily her aunt, she just didn't believe Emily would go out. Or maybe she just didn't want to believe her daughter had gotten to the age of going out and applying way too much make-up.

"Yes, she just finished her last exams. She is going to graduate soon."

Suddenly Catherine remembered that Sara's younger sister was indeed about to graduate, hell how could she forget, even Grissom seemed excited about it. She still hadn't figured out why though.

"MOM!" Lindsay whined, "I'm off, I'm sleeping at Em's place."

Just as Lindsay was about to leave the house, Sara entered with her arms full of bags from the grocery store.

"Ah Linds, can you take these, thank you," she said as she dumped the bags in Lindsay's arms before walking over to her lover to greet her with a kiss.

"Hey baby," Sara said after gently kissing Catherine, "what's up?"

"I will tell you what's up! Mom forgot I was going out with my aunt," Lindsay interrupted.

"Your aunt?" Sara asked, wondering what Lindsay meant.

"Oh my God, you know, Emily Sidle, your sister, tall, brown hair, brown eyes, spitting image of yourself, only a little bit more intelligent," Lindsay mocked as she put the grocery bags on the floor.

Sara chuckled, "technically she is not your aunt."

"Technically that is only because you two keep beating around the bush" Lindsay replied, "Em is too old for me to call her my friend, she would cramp my style," the young adolescent informed.

"I'd say my sister is cool," Sara mocked, sneaking her arm around Catherine, stealing another kiss of the woman she just couldn't get enough of. Inside she had to laugh about Lindsay's comment.

"My daughter wants us to get married," Catherine said as she kissed Sara back.

"Yuck, you guys, I'm still here!" Lindsay said as she waved her arms.

"What's wrong with Sara showing her love for me?" Catherine asked her daughter.

Lindsay sighed. "Parents," she said with another deep sigh before leaving the house.

Both Sara and Catherine chuckled at the reaction of Lindsay.

"Don't worry Cath, she is really going out with Emily," Sara said to calm Catherine down a bit.

"I know, she wouldn't lie about that. She is just growing up so fast, I was just looking at her and I just wanted to wipe all the make-up from her face. She looks so much older with all that make-up on."

Sara smiled at her lover. "Says who?"

"Sara Sidle, are you implying I look old?" Catherine said in mock anger.

"I wouldn't dare," Sara said before sweeping Catherine of her feet and into her arms.

Suddenly Sara stopped dead in her tracks and looked at the blonde goddess in her arms. "Did Lindsay just call us her parents?"

Catherine smiled at her younger lover, who seemed slightly panicked. "I guess she did."

Sara smiled and decided to let the subject drop. Now was not the time.

"Do you know what day it is?" Sara asked Catherine.

"What do you mean?" The blonde asked when Sara put her down on the couch.

"Today is the day that Lindsay is not coming home for the night," Sara said with a low voice, just before attacking Catherine's neck with kisses.

Catherine let out a soft moan, even after all the time they had been together; she still couldn't resist Sara Sidle.


End file.
